mousedroid

Agreed. I inherited a SG when everyone else who was in it left the game. I single-handedly keep it running because it's very convenient to have a fully outfited SG base, but the SG has a really dumb name. Seriously - I can't even figure out what the name means, and I would love to change it since I'm fairly certain that the originator of the group isn't coming back.

Pulse Rifle/Willpower Blaster

In gabriel's defense, when I started the game I ran the tutorial and I read all the information it gave me, and you know what? I still didn't get it. I had never played a game like this before and throwing all this stuff at me about inspirations, enhancements, slots, etc. etc. was just information overload.

When I started earning enhancements I was under the impression you could only use one slot for accuracy, one for damage, one for endurance, and so on. I also didn't realize that training origin enhancemnts aren't really worth anything, so I wasted a lot of money on TOs before I started reading about them on the forums.

So yeah, when someone doesn't know to use the "Exit" button to get out of the warehouse when the mission's over, they need to rerun the tutorial. But when they can't fathom the intricacies of enhancement slotting after playing the game for one day - the tutorial isn't going to teach them everything they know.

1) I typically sell EVERYTHING - salvage, recipies and TOs until I can start using level 25 IOs. I use DOs until then if need be. ETA: The one exception is if I get a unique that may come in very handy later on - a Celerity Stealth or something for example. In that case I'll probably hold onto it, at least until I have enough inf earned to list it at close to the market price. I've been burned by listing 15-million inf recipies at 1-million because that's all I could afford, and that's what they sold for.

2) I don't know about the Lady Grey TF since I've never run that, but it's conceivable to make 50 on the Imperious TF in the scenario you posted. Time and how much exp you earn on the ITF depends on how you run it and at what difficulty. A "Kill-All" run at Invincible will take longer but you're guarateed to make 50 - assuming it's a level 50 mission.

When I first heard about CO, I thought, "Cool, maybe I'll subscribe when it first comes out and snag some of the cool names I was never able to get here!"

Then I heard about this feature and thought, "Oh, so anyone can snag some of the cool names I was never able to get here. No real sense in subscribing early I guess."

So, no, this feature is exactly the opposite of a draw to CO for me. And I don't think I'd like it if it was instituted in CoX either. As much as I want to get rid of the period at the end of "Waitress." I don't want to do so at the cost of seeing 12 other "Waitress"es running around the Rogue Isles.

Other than smoothing the exp curve and the reductions in, and caps on, debt, this game is as easy as you choose to make it.

Using a jet pack making the game too easy? Don't use one.

Using the mission teleporter making the game too easy? Don't use it.

Day job bonuses making the game too easy? Don't earn them.

Heck, even the exp curve smoothing can be circumvented now that we can turn off exp.

I personally think those additions have made the game more enjoyable.

I used to play exclusively on Guardian, and I still consider it one of my two "Home" servers, but a friend set up a VG on Virtue and I started playing redside in earnest on that server.

At the moment, I would say my time is probably split 80/20 on Virtue and Guardian. On Virtue my playtime is 80/20 in favor of villains, and on Guardian it's 90/10 in favor of heroes.

I think what the devs failed to consider in their not completely misguided intention that certain badges should take years of normal play to earn, is that this game is built to encourage alts and as a result most people are not going to play one or two characters exclusively for the years it would take to get that badge. Heck, I can't play one character exclusively for a week at a time.

Easiest way I know of to find out where the team is before you join, if that's what your question is, is to ask the person who invited you.

Mr. Piddles and Kelly

Mr. Piddles is a kitten who was born as a stray behind the number two reactor at TMI. He was found by John Vincent who took the kitten home as his daughter's 22nd birthday present. Despite possessing human-level intelligence and mutant psi-blast powers, the poor little kitten couldn't get the hang of using a litter box, which is what lead to his unfortunate, and embarrasing name.

When Kelly was 24, she took a trip to Paragon City with her parents, leaving Mr. Piddles in the care of a neighbor. Tragically, Kelly and her parents were killed when Babbage rampaged through Skyway City and knocked the tour bus they were in off one of the overpasses. Mr. Piddles was so heartbroken by Kelly's death, he ran away from home the first chance he got. He found Kelly's grave, and used his prodigious mental powers to resurrect her corpse.

Reunited with his beloved Kelly, Mr. Piddles has returned to Paragon City where the creepy duo patrol the streets, protecting its citizens from Clockwork attacks and other supernormal threats.

Red 7 standing by...

Red 5 standing by...

Red Skelton standing by...

Red Foxx standing by...

Helen Reddy standing by...

Simply Red standing by...



I know it was Red Buttons, not Red Skelton, but they were both old-timey comedians with "Red" in their name, so humor me.

Unlikely. The rules-of-thumb for name purges are posted somewhere (several somewhere's actually), but what it basically comes down to is, if the character in question is level 6 or higher, their name will never be taken away from them, even if the player hasn't subscribed in 4+ years.

The general consensus for why this is the case is that NC doesn't want to upset returning players if they log back in after x-number of months or years and find they've lost their character's name(s).

IMO, that's a bunch of hooey. Anyone who has dropped the game for multiple years and returns expecting to still have their character names has a pretty big sense of entitlement if you ask me. I doubt if I went to work for another company for a few years and then returned to my current job, they'd have my office and parking space waiting for me when I returned.

I know this topic is a dead horse, and it's probably not easy to do, but if it was possible, I think characters on inactive accounts should be stripped of their names if they are under the level of the number of months the account has been inactive. For example, start with accounts that have been inactive 24 months or longer:

Inactive 24 months - all characters level 23 or lower are genericked
Inactive 27 months - all characters level 26 or lower are genericked
etc.
etc.
etc., until
Inactive 51 months or longer - all characters under level 50 are genericked.

In this way, if you have been an active, paid subscriber within the last 2 years, you'd only be at risk of losing a name in characters under level 6, and no one would ever lose a name on a level 50 character.

This would be in addition to the current, infrequently run name-freeing-up program, and if were up to me, both would be run every three months.

I thought the contests were typically Sunday at around 9 PM ET, so I was hanging out in Cap from around 8:40 to 9:30 and jumping over to the forums to check to see if it had been cancelled. By 9:30 I didn't see anything, so I went off to play, and apparently missed it. I don't know if you had fewer "good" costumes because of this or not (looks like a smaller turn-out than I've seen in the past).

I know this is a lot of work for you, and it often doesn't seem like we appreciate it, but I for one do. It's just disappointing to get all dressed up for it and then not hear anything. I will definitely be there at 11 PM (assuming ET?) next Sunday.

I am.

So... I'll be on tonight at 8:30 PM ET with Sam. I'll be running missions. I'd love it if you all joined me.

New answer for me:

Over the weekend, I was very surprised to snag the name Vieux Carre on Virtue. She is a dual blades/willpower brute who hails from New Orleans and dresses in Mardi Gras colors.

As of 9 PM ET last night, I still couldn't get on, so I sat down to watch some TV. I woke up around 1:30 AM and went to bed.

Thursday still works for me though.

Thursday is fine with me, or I could be available tonight. Doesn't matter which night, I just wanna burn stuff!

Ideas in addition to costume contest(s):

Biography contest(s)

Comicbook trivia contest(s) - Golden Age, Silver Age, Modern Age

"City of..." trivia contest(s)

Scavenger hunts - Give individuals or teams one hour to collect level appropriate drops - recipies, salvage, and enhancements. The idea would be to street sweep or run missions to collect these items and the team with the most splits "X" amount of infamy. I think it could be really fun, but I don't know how you would keep people from cheating by just buying the items or getting them from friends unless you had a volunteer you trusted stay with the team the whole time.

A Master of Disguise contest - You make up a costume in a spare costume slot and gather the contestants at the University in Cap Au Diable. You switch to the contest costume and give the contestants 30 seconds to study it before you switch back to your previous costume. Then the contestants each have 5 minutes to get to the tailor, and do their best to duplicate the costume, including all pieces and colors. Whoever comes closest wins. Of course to make it fair, you'd have to avoid using any vet reward, unlockable, or booster pack costume pieces. ETA: Upon further reflection, I guess most people would just take a screen shot of the costume, so memory would not play as big a part in the contest as I had originally envisioned, and I'm not sure how you would prevent that.

Concept contest - You come up with a concept/bio for a character and have the contestants create a costume to fit that bio. Whoever's costume(s) you feel best fit(s) the concept, wins.