dugfromthearth

what I like is that this is retro SciFi

it is nice to have a fairly specific title and theme to it rather than Mutant which was just some weird stuff (I have the mutant pack, it just isn't a tight theme).

And while it has a tight theme, the pieces seem somewhat generic enough to find lots of uses. I can imagine the chest controls, bubble helmet, and jetpack on lots of different types of characters.

at least post something on the website

it's just lame

I think $15 plus VIP for an account

I wanted the points to get the halloween costume pack before it was gone, and I bought beast run and the animal pack as well

800-1600pp AT which reuses existing powersets in a different combo (ranged/defense, pets/control)

1600-2400 AT which mostly reuses existing powersets but has an inherent (like Hide) that significantly changes how it plays.

1600-2400 EAT like Khelds or SoA, which provides 3 possible builds

As a VIP, 400pts is one month of points. I can easily see 6 months worth of points being spent on an AT if I am interested in it.

clowns are so overpowered it isn't funny

soloing is the most important balance point for an AT without a doubt.

Even if people team most of the time, the simple fact is that when you solo you have only yourself.

On a team of 8 you can go afk at the entrance and they can probably complete the mission. You are only 1/8 of the team. If you are only 50% as effective as everyone else the team is still at 93% effectiveness.

If you are solo and are only 50% as effective as another AT, you are at 50% effectiveness.

dark melee

damage
-to hit
self heal
fear attack

it's the only melee powerset that isn't just a collection of damage and skippable knockback

"agree on"?

bug report filed

First, it is your fault if you choose costume options that you can't provide. They aren't forcing you to take wings. Live within your means is as true in game as in anything else.

Second, with the webcam now on by default in teams (unless you change it under Options), it really hurts immersion to click on a character and just see someone in their pajamas. By violating the rules you aren't just hurting yourself, you are hurting everyone you play with.

I can see relaxing the rules if you are playing solo on a basically dead server, or redside. It could boost their popularity. But then there already is a no-pants server, and that has not attracted as many players as you might think.

Cracking Skulls (ID #115935), by @Flame Kitten
lvls 1-10

another great mission that doesn't have anything special mechanically, it is just a good story with lots of in mission details. The NPC's talk, which adds a lot of flavor.

It is Skulls, the maps are normal. The story is not end of the world, no EB or AV. Just a well done arc. Every arc should be this good.

I want the signature heroes to be more involved - but in our stories

Imperius showing up in the final mission of the ITF is nice.

Positron should help out in his TF.

Each TF from a signature hero should have them in it actually helping you.

But I don't want stories of their personal lives.

influence and infamy can realistically switch over as influence

Annakin switched from Jedi Knight to Sith Lord.
He didn't start at the bottom of the dark side as a thug with no infamy. His fame switched from being famous and good to famous and evil.

Benedict Arnold didn't become a nameless, faceless British supporter when he switched sides. He went straight to the top of the infamy list.

I work for a company that sells games. As part of marketing you have to use a virtuous term to describe aspects of the games. Even opposite aspects have to be described in a good way.

For instance some games are fast paced, some are slow paced. Those are technical descriptions and are not positive terms (some people may take them as such). So marketing came up with fast paced games being "exciting" and slow past games being "relaxing". Putting a positive spin on either end of the spectrum.

Now there is a lot I like about CoH and a lot I dislike. A challenge is seeing a virtue in the parts you dislike - because someone probably likes them for some reason.

I hate slotting enhancements. I would rather they did not exist and powers just had their attributes. To me it is just a waste of time. But I can see that enhancements are a way of customizing your character, making your character your own. I may still dislike doing it, but it makes me less annoyed that the game includes it.

What are aspects of the game that you like or dislike that you can describe in a positive way to explain why your or some people might actually like it?

whoever made the distinction between CoH universe and CoH game had a great point.

I too have my characters in the universe, but not the game.

It struck me the other day when I became "entrusted with the secret" not by talking to a mender but by running up to the top of a pillar on Oroborus. That's why they entrusted me wit a secret?

I hit level 40 and I don't care for the content. So I have decided to hit AE and see what cool arcs people have created. I have not done so in a couple of years, so most of the stuff should be new to me. I am probably only going to try arcs posted in this forum as I have found trying to find good arcs through AE to be painful.


First Arc:
Arc #517859: Crime is Art and Art is Crime, by @Twoflower - Hero 35+

Great arc. The story is semi-silly in the golden/silver age vein. Serious in its own way, but not death and despair type of stuff. The enemy groups were varied - even within a mission. Lots of objectives which were different and added to the story and flavor. Some nice NPC dialog in the missions - especially the last one.

There was nothing ground breaking in the technical execution - it was a fairly standard set of objectives and maps - but just very well done.

I do use global channels, I don't set colors for them

I do change the color for my speech bubble

and my threads are as often as not based on things I don't do. I find it fascinating that people powerlevel for example. It is just so bizarre that I want to poke them and find out what sort of creatures they are.

I would like more feather options

you do have:
leaf hair - looks reasonably like feathers if you want a normal head
bird head
organic shoulders - look reasonably like feathers
bird wings
valkyrie kilt - looks like stylized feathers
scales pattern - gives a feather look to an outfit

fire stalkers are stupid - no one on fire can be hidden. Say that, and people who want to play fire stalkers will come up with magic or some other explanation as to why fire stalkers can be hidden.

many players are very good at being creative about how or why something works the way they want it to work.

but then some players simply refuse. Superheroes do not buy things in stores. They are just blocked by that. They cannot come up with a reason why they would in the game, they just find negative examples in comics where they do not. Rather than figure out how to make the game work, they will argue endlessly and inventively on why it does not.

So where do you fit in? Do you make your characters work with the game, or are you painfully aware of how the game does not meet your character's needs?

---

While I am a minimal roleplayer, all of my character concepts fit into the game world. A siren from Cimmerora, an electric demon from Cap Diable, a carnival ringmaster from the world. So they all work with the lore. And all of my characters are at least semi-pulp. A voodoo hougan buying magic items works. A brain in a jar in a robot body buying tech parts works for me.

I make characters in the game CoX, rather than making characters and trying to squeeze them into CoX.

sillveragefan that is a great idea

the problem is you still have to have an effect. a fireball could be triggered by nodding the head, but you would still need some animation for the explosion.

this especially applies to buffs on characters, zones, etc

so you would need to distinguish between the character animation - nodding their head, and the effect animation- a fiery shield on the target

there are only a few cases where I want alternate animations: swords and breath generally.

I either want a fire guy to use a fire sword or flaming fists, not alternate
and I want fire to come out of his hands or his mouth and not alternate

but choosing between 2 different punches doesn't really interest me.

And I can 100% guarantee that releasing alternate animations to fire melee will not cause Atlas Park to be flooded with new fire melee characters. Whereas each new powerset does generate a ton of new characters.

So I have to go with new powerset

WWD has been a remarkably inventive series of arcs. New maps, lots of storytelling, some complicated missions. Ignore the story, the characters, etc. Just the pure mechanics of it - what did you like and dislike in WWD #1.

"A mysterious obelisk has been unearthed by the Circle of Thorns. It is rumored that it can remove powers from a hero and transfer them to someone else! What member of the Freedom Phalanx will be targeted, and what role will you play in all of this?"

This is not an exhaustive list, but things to talk about:

Contact introduced by pop-up when you hit a level - this I like. It makes them seem important. It sparks my interest

Can start TF from anywhere through contact tab - this I like. I can then use mission teleport to get there. But, it does mean not actually seeing the contact which makes it lose some of its feel.

Wave ambushes in 1st mission - I like the wave ambushes putting time pressure and driving you forward, but they come too fast. Teams either race in front of them, or just exit and let them expire.

Click on blinkies in spawns 1st mission - I like it not being a defeat all. I do find it odd/cool that it is actually easier to do this solo and ninja the blinkies then in a large group.

Cavern collapsing 2nd mission - I like this in Hess, but not here. People go to Oro or just wait. It is a second of drama and then fizzles.

Lava Hollows Map 3rd mission - great map. Epic look. Great to see something happening in the arc - the lava flooding the hollows - makes it seem like the end is near.

AV Lost 3rd mission - I really like Lost in the 3rd mission having alternate powers. It fit the storyline and adds needed variety to the fight. Makes me wish a mission to get back the Oxygen Destroyer would end up facing a boss wielding the Oxygen Destroyer. Makes the story not just feel like window dressing to a standard fight.

Ambush 3rd mission - This works for me. There is enough of a pause that you can reorganize before the ambush hits. It makes the climax stronger. My only complaint is that there is almost always a lava minion behind the obelisk you have to find and defeat before the ambush triggers. Taking down the AV should be enough - hunting a minion is anticlimactic.

Cutscene 3rd mission - I like cutscenes. I don't like this cutscene. I would much rather have had a cutscene with the lost gaining Synapse power.

Final wrapup - Synapse recovers and talks to you. Easily overlooked but nice bit of wrap-up. Being thanked is always nice