Winterminal

Chapter 51 and 52, I choose you!
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With your powers combined, I am Chapter 51 and 52!
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By the power of Greyskull!
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Alright, one of these days I will figure out the correct incantation for summoning more chapters. In the mean time, keep up the good writing! You've got me on the edge of my seat.

I know it is quite late in the process, but today is the first opportunity I've had to run on Beta, heh. Just going to throw in my 2 cents.

First, the specs:
13" Macbook Pro
OSX 10.5.8, Leopard
2.26 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
2GB RAM

-After downloading the Beta client, I deleted the DMG from "Downloads" then Repaired the client. Beta access granted, no problem.

-Once in, the character creation process fit the screen size, no problem from first page to last.

-Upon accessing the store, I encountered the problem where I did not see text on almost any buttons, although it was just blank, I did not get a bunch of symbols like some others.

-While accessing the store from the character creation screen, it did not fit. The bottom was aligned correctly, as were the sides, but the top was off screen, I could only see the bottom parts of the top row of buttons (Home, Cart, Support, etc.)

-After some guess work/logic, I was able to purchase both the Rocket Board and Beam Rifle without issue.

-Once in-game, access to the store changed. Once again, it did not fit the screen, except now it was the bottom that was pushed off. Interestingly, there was a gap at the top of the screen (where the store did not quite align with the top, and I could still see the game universe). Had the store aligned with the top, I think the entire thing would have been visible.

-I did not experience any crashing while in the game, though I did not spend more than a couple minutes in the store at any one time.

-Now that I have exited, pressing "Play Now" while I have CoH Beta selected has no effect. I have not attempted any fix for this (is there one?). I was still able to launch the Live version without a problem.

Hope this helps whoever is out there!

Donner, you leaving is... a shock, to be honest. Though, your statement rings true, I have just been in denial.

However, while I will probably take advantage of Exalted, I am going to stay put on Pinnacle for a while. The character transfers stack, so I can use them whenever I want. I would much rather stay and be pleasantly surprised by a bunch of newcomers than preemptively transfer my mains off the server, only to find a resurgence in server population.

First, thank you Manga for coming up with this fix. I have not had a chance to Beta test, and considering I am still running Leopard, I am interested to see how this will play out.

With that said, I am unhappy to hear that it will be launching with this many bugs, more so considering (as was said) it will most likely take weeks before we see a fix. I hate to be all "our problems are priority 1," but not being able to securely access the Store (essentially, the whole point of Freedom) is most annoying.

I am definitely looking forward to the new Blaster sets. As someone who prefers ST blasting, Beam Rifle looks fantastic, as do the modifications made to Dark Blast. Though I dislike the overall melee-range orientation of Darkness Manipulation, I will still be taking it with Dark Blast for thematic reasons.

I, too, am looking forward to being able to roll whatever AT I want on whatever side I want. With that in mind, I will be making the aforementioned Dark/Darkness Blaster a Villain, because Dark/Darkness/Soul just sounds too good to pass up, and I have a great back story I have been sitting on (not to mention a camped name).

The IDF costume parts will definitely be implemented in a few of my costumes, and the Defense costume may replace some of my straight-tights looks.

Finally, I will agree with you again MOO: I am very much looking forward to having a surplus of players not only playing through but experiencing the 1-50 game for the first time.

Thanks for the article notification! That's a great spread of enemies, from four very different factions. There are obvious distinctions between each, as opposed to (say for example) Hellions vs. Skulls.

Looking forward to when this goes live!

I am staying put. I may roll something on Exalted if only to grab a name which I have previously found to be unavailable, but I am with you, playing with the new people is something to which I am actually looking forward. Like you, I am a big fan of the 1-50 game, and have reserved a couple open character slots to roll new characters for the express purpose of teaming up with the new people.

I see the most obnoxious Free players finding their way onto the higher population servers, which already have a base level of obnoxious players, so odds are, things won't change too much.

Wait, now we are going to have to work with Praetorians?! In yet another "enemy of my enemy is my friend" scenario? Heroes are already teaming up with Villains! Follow this: Heroes and Villains now have to team up with Praetorian IDF and Warworks in order to stop the Praetorian Devouring Earth from mutating everything Primal-side, so that Heroes and Villains can go back to fending off Praetorian IDF and Warworks, so that Heroes can go back to fighting Villains. Yes, yes, this sounds epic and all of that, but I would really rather kick Cole's keister before having to worry about the Praetorian Devouring Earth too, much less team up with Praetorian forces to defeat the DE.

Next thing ya know, we'll be teaming up with Praetorian Devouring Earth to defeat the Shivans!

I am interested in seeing where this goes, and I am going to go ahead and say that Cole's "we must save Primal Earth" is a facade, a la the "Clean Up Galaxy City" article that was included with the torn off meteor shower article in the teaser picture a few months ago.

I started playing Summer 2007, in between my freshman and sophomore years of college, but only played summers and winter breaks during my university tenure. Since starting:

• The friend who introduced me to the game has long since quit, but we remain best friends outside the game. He may come back once Freedom launches.
• I lost the dog with whom I grew up.
• I lost a grandfather.
• I gained a cousin. My familial generation, but 21 years younger than me.
• I rescued a black Labrador who has undying loyalty and gratitude.
• I graduated college with a Bachelor's of Fine Arts in Acting.
• I was taken on by a commercial agency in Chicago and now do print and on-screen ads.
• I met a wonderful girl who is, as of only a few weeks ago, my longest-standing relationship.
• I am currently sword fighting on-stage in a very well-reviewed Chicago play.

Admittedly, yes, if I download a game that's F2P, and see that I lack access to a bunch of features only available to paying customers, my first, initial, gut reaction is going to be, "C'mon! What the hell?"

However, followed oh-so-swiftly after that would be, "Well, I am playing for free after all..." If people show up expecting full access to a game and all of its features, they need a reality check.

The other thing: if a player is playing this game for Free, it means they have enough money for a computer. That being the hypothetical case, if a Free player really wants access to more of that stuff, they can make a one-time $5 purchase for 400 Paragon Points, spend those how they see fit, and (in the process) gain access to things like Tells and the like.

It is a nice effect, one that many other players have complimented. You will also hear it when near any Seer in Praetoria. Creepy!

In response to the OP, I am right there with ya. My Elec^3 blaster has a purple themed costume that has pretty much become my main, simply because that purple Charged Armor clashes with the lightning-colored costume I originally designed for him.

+1 Eagerly awaiting APP and Pool power customization.

Since I am sure it will be color-customizable... YAY stereotypical "backpack!"

While it is annoying, I would rather these hiccups happen now and get fixed than after Freedom launches, since that will undoubtedly have its own bugs that need fixing.

By posting on the forums, you essentially did what everyone else in your position does during a maintenance.

Ha, yes. I slot rest in a slot that I am sure NOT to hit via a keystroke. That's exclusively a mouse-click power.

I'll keep this short. My first character was an ice blaster, that took combat jumping and Super Jump. I was playing on an outdated computer, and was not making full use of Combat Jumping to bounce around while fighting. Between lagging mid-jump and being pummeled in missions, I was quickly losing interest in the game as it was becoming frustrating.

Then I ran the lvl 24 respec trial (after learning what the hell that even was) and I decided to use my prize to take Hover and Fly instead. All of the sudden, I could lag as much as I wanted while I was airborne and it didn't matter. But better yet, I discovered the wonders of "hover blasting." I've never looked back.

*edit after reading Jibikao's comment above*

Perhaps just slot a range IO in TT to make the cone larger, thus increasing the synergy of the two powers? Or just run a little closer? I love slotting my cones for range, it makes them much more potent.

Personally, I'm glad to see the addition of the ST hold power, as mitigation is a Blasters friend. And I have never been a fan of blapping, so a set full of powers focused around keeping my enemies at distance is just fine by me. But since you are talking of synergy... I really wish there was more between Dark Blast and Dark Manipulation, but that horse has been beaten already.

I think this is totally doable. It's going to take a LONG time, and you'll have to be really careful about temp power management. But hey, carefully take your Pool powers, and then frequent Bloody Bay for some Shivans, you should be golden!

haha, good luck man. I'll be reading up on this, since I admit I have wondered "What if..."