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September 28, 2006

Time for a Level 50 Photo Op!

So, Margie's soloist character, Blue Point (running on Pinnacle), is 30K away from dinging 50 -- and will do it as soon as she calls her contact.

Question is: Where's the best place you can think of, outside of a mission, for a Level 50 Photo Op?

Submit your answers in the comments!


Posted by Dave at 10:31 PM | Comments (5) | TrackBack | Edit
Filed under: Gameplay

September 27, 2006

Positron speaks ...!

... about deals with Microsoft, the future of the City of franchise, and plans for I8, I9, and I10 ...

Oh, and that Microsoft thing? It's about Cryptic doing Marvel Universe Online for the Xbox 360 ... which is so ironic, given the past Marvel v. Cryptic lawsuits ...


Posted by Dave at 7:38 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack | Edit
Filed under: Media , Resources & Rules

Veterans Daze

So the first year's worth of Veteran Rewards are up.

Each of these also come with badges (named as shown).

Overall, pretty cool. Not huge -- nobody's going to be at a real disadvantage by not having these things (well, having Sands of Mu or, resumably, the Axe, is an advantage -- Lynn enjoyed the semi-permanent SoM when temp items were broken), but they add a bit of fun-ness.

More stuff to be announced anon -- including, presumably, the wings ...


Posted by Dave at 12:35 PM | Comments (4) | TrackBack | Edit
Filed under: Resources & Rules

September 26, 2006

Five years ago in Paragon City ...

Today (26 September) is the fifth anniversary of the initial announcement and press info on City of Heroes being under development.

Warcry has coverage of those Good Old Days -- plus the 2002 E3 presentation that gave a first look at what the game would be like (and is noteworthy for what was different as much as for what is the same).

You'll notice lots of little differences in the video to how CoH eventually turned out. The icons on the top right of the screen were for targeting individual body locations, the attack system required Dakan to use the mouse to target enemies via the cursor, there's no contact system - missions were given out at computers, there are actually screens that allow you to tweak your hero's stats and powers, and a whole host besides. However, for 2002 things do look pretty good and the bones of what the game became are definitely there.

Cool.


Posted by Dave at 10:03 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack | Edit
Filed under: Resources & Rules

September 21, 2006

"I got a rock"

They're running a Halloween Event on Test (presumably to go Live in a month). Click on a door -- any door -- and fight mobs and get a "treat" (an inspiration -- or maybe a fifth costume slot), or a "rock" (or maybe the "rock" is the fight). Very similar to the Christmas event last December.

At last -- a reason for 80% of the doors out there, otherwise unused, to exist.


Posted by Dave at 1:59 PM | Comments (4) | TrackBack | Edit
Filed under: Resources & Rules

September 20, 2006

Veteran Rewards and ... WINGS!!!!

Okay, after the ennui post, the Veteran Rewards thing is kinda ironic, but ... officiall announcement here.

Specifically, for each increment of three months with an active account*, players will unlock valuable in-game “items” which will come in the form of costumes, powers, badges, and more! The program is retroactive by player account and rewards will be applicable to all characters within each respective account.

Rewards have been determined for the first three years of play and will continue to expand indefinitely. Stay tuned for updates as we reveal the full list of rewards!

And one of them is ... wings. Very cool. Both demonic (batty) and angelic (feathered). Wings video available, too, though it's ... kinda short. And ... the feathers shed? Cool ... (Almost as cool as another flying animation -- arms forward, "Superman Style.")


Posted by Dave at 3:52 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack | Edit
Filed under: Character Design , Resources & Rules

Notification

I'm pretty darned certain that the Notification checkboxes and e-mail-address form boxes at the bottom of each post are finally working. So if you want to subscribe to a post and get an e-mail every time a new comment comes up, you can. Huzzah.


Posted by Dave at 3:34 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack | Edit
Filed under: This Blog

Ennui Go

Interesting article over here on what the author calls "WoW-nnui," a sort of, "Huh, kinda getting tired of this" feeling that more World of Warcraft folks (in his circle) are feeling these days.

Last night I logged in to WoW for the first time in a long time. I visited my characters one by one, but didn't stick around to play very long despite finally having an evening free to play. I felt a distinct detachment from my characters and soon recognized my old friend, game ennui.

Now I don't mean to sound like I'm spelling doom for WoW (or MMOs in general!). Far from it. I don't know WoW's sales numbers, but as far as I know their box sales remain at or near the top of the charts. And of course there's a much-anticipated expansion pack coming up that will give them a welcome, if perhaps temporary, bump in their usage numbers.

But in my case, not only could I really not gather any excitement about playing these characters, knowing as I do that I just don’t have multiple hours per week (much less per day!) to play them, but the more advanced the character the more difficult it was to get back into. I could sorta drive my 22lvl hunter; my 37 warlock was almost incomprehensible -- and for many more expert players such levels are "lowbies." Remembering all those spells, weapons, abilities, talents, etc., just seemed like way too much trouble. And all the quests that were driving these characters’ progress were entirely meaningless now (this is the danger of external motivation—it’s just too easy to lose all sense of why I should care about an entirely artificial set of quests).

I'm involved, loosely speaking (given my lack of attendance), in several different guilds on PvE, RP, and PvP servers. In each, multiple people I know -- both those with multiple level 60 characters and those who have never come close to that -- have sort of run aground on the over-and-over again gameplay, whether that's yet-another-kill-X-creatures quest or yet-another-raid for yet-another-piece-of-armor. No one I've talked to dislikes the game; there's no sense of having been spurned or that the experience has curdled. But in even the best parties there seems to sometimes come a moment when, amidst the music and noise you and your friends silently agree "great party; we're outta here." For some people that moment has come with WoW. And I'm guessing that trend is only going to accelerate.

File off some serial numbers, and swap some nameplates, and this could be CoH/CoV. I continue to be interested in news about the game, I'm curious about stuff coming out in I8, even having some character plans around it, and I have a Level 40 that's been forging along -- save for my only playing a couple of times in the last week-plus, due to other commitments -- plus a stable of other characters who deserve more time in the sun.

But, honestly, the burn just isn't there for me, these days. When I have a few free minutes -- or even a free evening -- I'm not instantly diving into CoX. I'm not regularly staying up to Midnight, to get in one last missoin. Part of it is a "been there, done that," part of it is being distracted by other interests (good and bad), and part of it is the latest round of dramatic brouhaha that's not only messed up the community but soured me on the whole associated environment.

I dunno. Not quitting any time soon, as far I as know, and I expect I'll be playing more in the coming weeks than I have been. But, honestly speaking again, I know exactly the feeling the author of this essay is talking about, and I can imagine a time (in a way I couldn't a year or so ago) when I won't be playing CoX.


Posted by Dave at 2:33 PM | Comments (5) | TrackBack | Edit
Filed under: Gameplay , True Life

Patch notes for today

Guess this is live as of ... today! Main thing is the Mission Drop feature, but there are a few other details, too.


Mission Dropping Feature

There are a few caveats to the Mission Dropping Feature:

Powers


Tasks

City Zones


Game

Bases

CITY OF HEROES

Powers


CITY OF VILLAINS

Powers

Tasks


Posted by Dave at 10:17 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack | Edit
Filed under: Resources & Rules

September 18, 2006

Mission Dropping

Positron speaks on the new Mission Dropping feature, upcoming:

There's probably nothing more frustrating to have just about cleared out an entire map, only to realize that there's a mob somewhere about still. You scour each room, but still nothing. Turns out the mob is spawned outside the map. You petition and...wait.

That's one of the first things we wanted to solve with this feature.

In this scenario, we'd of course want to give the person their reward...after all, they'd done just about all the work!

Naturally, mission dropping is also useful for those missions that are either too easy or too hard...in those cases, it's not necessarily good to give players the reward. And yet the way we have tech set up right now, a player NEEDS the reward. Case in point: the Vahzilok Wasting Disease. If a player dropped that mission, but didn't get the reward, they'd have the Disease forever.

It's extremely difficult to determine programmatically whether a mission is being dropped for fun factor or bugs. It's better to err on the side of "bugs" so we decided to keep the reward. But in order to prevent people from gobbling missions like candy and getting free XP, Enhancements, etc., we placed a limit on how often.

I freely admit that it's not a perfect system; I know Posi and I are reading the boards to find ways to improve the mission dropping...so post away!

I think this makes tremendous sense. Though, honestly speaking, I think only once have I ever been in a mish where the "last missing mob" was actually unfindable or some sort of bug. Usually, with diligence (and/or help from one's friends), it can be found lurking behind a crate or up in the ceiling or something.

I think if the frequency on this got increased to every couple of days, it would not hurt the "experience" (nobody's going to farm by skipping missions every couple of days) while being quite useful.


Posted by Dave at 9:33 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack | Edit
Filed under: Resources & Rules

September 15, 2006

Jump!

The "Good vs. Evil" edition is announced -- but if you want, you can actually buy all the "goody" premiums:

* Jump Jet Prestige Power
* “Pocket D” VIP Card Teleport Power
* Exclusive Hero and Villain Costumes

No prices listed as yet. Not seeing anything here that I'm just obsessed about getting, unless the price is very low.


Posted by Dave at 12:58 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack | Edit
Filed under: Resources & Rules

September 13, 2006

Potpourri for 600 Prestige, Alex ...

Bits and pieces from the Dev list:

  1. A new patch was briefly up on Test today, before being backed off. Among the features was, evidently, the ability once a week, to drop a mission. It's primarily intended as a way to finish missions that are buggy and can't be completed, but you could use it just to avoid something Really Irritating. Once a week, anyway.

  2. "Monsters, John! Monsters from the Id NCSoft!"

  3. Will there be a freespec with I8? Possibly. Though by no means certainly (nor even probably).


Posted by Dave at 11:30 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack | Edit
Filed under: Resources & Rules

September 12, 2006

Zoning ...

Due to a variety of personal commitments/activities and being off on business travel, haven't signed onto CoX since, oh, Friday, so nothing new to report there. And the Devs have bee pretty quiet, trying to get I8 ready for test. So ... expect news when you see it. Harrumph.


Posted by Dave at 7:55 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack | Edit
Filed under: True Life

September 8, 2006

Waiting in the wings

I8 will have wings for heroes and villains.

But ... what kind of wings?

Posi says two types -- at least as of I8 release. And we know from the pics that one type is ... demonic/batty.

Angel/bird wings?

Insect wings?

Butterfly wings?

Tech wings?

Small demon and large demon wings?

My bet's on angel/bird, but ...


Posted by Dave at 2:37 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack | Edit
Filed under: Character Design , Resources & Rules

More on I8

Quoth Positron:

Teleport fix should be in the next patch as well, as well as some code for memory leaks and other nastiness.

A fix for Group Teleport will be coming in I8.

Patron Respec issue should be fully solved in the next patch as well.

Dominators are getting a buff that should make them more desireable on LRSF in I8 as well.

Lt.s should be spawning in missions again (I don't know if this is fixed in the patch, or was fixed in I8).

We are constantly datamining PvP, seeing which side is winning more. The results are not what you expect. One side wins, then the other side, then the balance shifts back, and then back again.

I had 2 PM's in my box, back to back. The first was "Stalkers are useless in PvP" and the next was "Stalkers are overpowered in PvP". The grass is always greener they say...

Our lead programmer has been doing nothing but fixing bugs since I7 was released. He mentioned to me the other day that he hadn't written one line of code that was only in I8. We -are- trying to get the major issues fixed, but eventually the new issue has to come out, and that gobbles up the Training Room server, and we have to button down new fixes until that Issue goes to Live.

The next patch for I7 is not in NC Soft's hands yet, but will be shortly. You can expect it on the Training Room once it has passed their internal QA process.

And yes, all of this bug fixing has pushed out I8 beyond the original "September" estimate I gave back in May.

Oh, and there's a Hero version of Lord Recluse's Strike Force a-coming ... in I9.


Posted by Dave at 9:32 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack | Edit
Filed under: Resources & Rules

September 7, 2006

Top Issues

Per Positron ...

* "Looping Sound Crash" - We think we MAY have this finally fixed.

* "Invisible Players/Enemies on Map" - Again, we think we may have this fixed.

* Choice table for Lord Recluse's Strike Force. - Upon completion of the mission, you will get a choice table, instead of the Enhancements simply being put into your tray (and if your tray is full, put into oblivion). You will NOT be able to pick the specific Synthetic Hami-O, but you will be able to choose a +3 level SO instead of the random SHOE if you want.

Yes this means that the Freedom Phalanx will drop SO's again.

I don't know when these will be hitting Training Room, but these will probably be the last big fixes in I7... onward to Issue 8!!!

The Devs have been pretty quiet of late ... hunkering down for the push to I8. Looking forward to it.

And all that said -- I'd be frelling happy if the damn trains got debugged! How long has that been going on now?


Posted by Dave at 10:24 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack | Edit
Filed under: Resources & Rules

The Big Four-Oh

Dinged Hildegard, then Torchielle, to 40.

It's only an enhancement level, of course (and not very exciting enhancements at this point -- around 40, you start running out of things to drop enhancements into, as most of the exciting powers are already taken and fully 3- or 6-slotted, and the EPPs don't start until 41).

Biut, still ... as Doyce put it in passing. "That's just wrong -- Torchielle should still be running around Steel Canyon." Yeah, it feels that way sometimes. :-)

On a related note, I was ... irked to discover that I was out of respecs on her. I used the I7 freespec already (to drop Super-Jump for Fly), so I'm stuck with Rain of Fire instead of Grant Invis. until another freespec comes along, or until we do an actual Respec mission (which might be a bit rough to do).

And, yes, it was fun to announce it on the Alliance OOC and have people cheer. No man is an island.

Anyway ... forty! W007! Time to start hitting on Malta!


Posted by Dave at 10:17 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack | Edit
Filed under: Character Design , Gameplay

Par-tay!

From the Top5 Comics list, 1 September 2006:

The Top 7 Things Overheard at a Superhero Party

7> "HULK WANT HEAR 'PURPLE RAIN!'"

6> "Do you think anyone should tell Sue Storm only her costume goes invisible when she's drunk?"

5> "I found out the hard way that (a) the red chair was PlasticMan, and (b) he was really happy to see me."

4> "Sure, they can fight crime, but just look at the Teen Titans now: Boys lined up along one wall; girls lined up along theother."

3> "Supergirl and Powergirl came in the same outfit this year? Awk-ward!"

2> "With great power comes great responsibility... and my world-famous Spidey-Tater-Salad!"

and the Number 1 Thing Overheard at a Superhero Party...

1> "And let's give everyone just back from the dead a big hand!"

And Honorable Mention to the Runners-Up List:

"Can you believe Elektra's wearing white after Labor Day?"

"Hey! Whose idea was it to play Twister with Plastic Man, Mr.Fantastic and Elongated Man?"

"Maybe they wouldn't put you to work in the kitchen every time, Cap, if you didn't carry around a giant serving tray."

"Please, Logan! Not in front of the Runaways."

"So, what kinda mileage does the Batmobile get?"



Posted by Dave at 9:57 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack | Edit
Filed under: Humor

"Because it feels so good when I stop"

So, a few days afterwards ...

Life goes on. Sing o-bla-di-bla-da.

Actually, for me, it's been such a perfect storm of ... well, multiple storms ... that I keep finding myself forgetting who's miffed at who over what. Some CoX-related, some not, and some spinning off of work-related issues.

For me, the Breaking of the Alliance (let's make it sound exciting) isn't nearly as traumatic as the Big January Brouhaha. Part of that is because I am slowly winding down on CoX. Oh, yeah, I still play it, and don't plan on canceling my subscription any time soon. But it's not a "I have to rush home and get on and hope the kid doesn't drown in the bathtub and stay up way too late" 7-day-a-week obsession any more. If I decide to take a break and read, or watch a movie, I can do that and not feel like I'm "falling behind," or "missing out," or "letting people counting on seeing me there down." It's a moderately serious hobby, not an obsession.

And, also unlike January, I don't feel the need to Fix Everything. Some people did some crappy stuff, other people did some sort of crappy stuff, most folks are going somewhere else, and the people left behind are, frankly, mostly the people I've been having the most fun with anyway. Heck, if it were just Margie and me, it would still be good.

Or, put another way, most of the folks who have left are people who, while I miss some of them saying howdy on CC, I'm not going to cry into my pillow over. Acquaintances, mostly. And a few I'm more than happy to be quit of.

As for personal rancor ... there's a bit of it. Most of it is impersonal -- folks who chatted behind backs about me and mine, mostly revealing more truth about themselves than about us. Some of it is more personal -- but, even there, it's not too difficult to let go. I do resent the people who brought it all crashing down, whether for good reasons or nasty reasons. But not so much that I have to hunt them down, or rant and rave and wail and gnash my teeth over them here, at least right this moment.

And if I encounter some of those who've departed in a train station? Even assuming I can keep straight Who was Which? I'll probably at least wave. If I get a tell from them, I'll probably reply. Heck, if I get asked for assistance ... I may very well give it. That's what heroes do, after all, isn't it?

Life's too short. And, paradoxically, it does go on.


Posted by Dave at 12:40 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack | Edit
Filed under: Consortium of Justice

A semblance of normalcy

Two big missions last night, when all was said and done, for Torchy and Hildy.

First, wrapped up the Where Are All Those Paragon Protectors Coming From story arc for Torchy (complete with commemorative SO can't use yet). We had things pretty well figured out against those guys, though Hildy still gets into orange/red for longer than I'm comfortable with.

I do very much like the final redressed lab with all the soon-to-be-PPs up in rooftop tubes, though it loses a bit of its uniqueness now that Arachnos is doing the same sort of fx. I remember it creeping me out when first I saw it, and it still is eerie.

Then off to a Rikti timed train mish (find the 8 people and a barrel of goo). Did fine, and earned big points clearing the map. Invis was helpful for scouting, even with all the Drones. I ended up like a quarter pip off of 40, and Margie was even closer.

Actually, started up the evening (not knowing how things were going to be on the Villain side) running a stale mission solo with Mister Thorne. Yeah, really not liking Masterminds solo. YMMV.


Posted by Dave at 6:47 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack | Edit
Filed under: Gameplay

September 6, 2006

Character Updates

Because everyone does one!


Posted by Dave at 3:43 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack | Edit
Filed under: Character Design , Gameplay

Loggy Bloggy

So with the impending demise of the Alliance website (mutter mutter mutter) comes the question of what to do with the materials therein.

I've already done a "Save As" for all my individual character entries cross-SG. So the most important material (kindasorta) is safe. (Haven't done that for Margie's stuff, but that's thinner on the ground). Question is, what to do with it.

I could post it on the new AoC Lite forum I've put together. Problem is ... well, I'm not sure that's ever going to be much of a community, more like a place to hang and post stuff that needs posting in a place that's not, well, here. To be perfectly honest, while I look forward to continued CoXing with other members of the remaining AoC groups, I don't see any of the current folks going into a big membership drive mode that would require a forum to support it.

I'm inclined to think, in fact, that we are in the end game, so to speak, of our (individual) CoX gameplay cycles -- the remaining Alliance people will play a bit here and there, slowly decreasing, and gradtually wander away, gently, into that good night.

Okay, that was more depressing than I meant it to be.

At any rate, I'm not sure how much effort I want to put into recreating a Little Slice o' the Alliance if it's mostly a half-dozen or so people and their casual passtime. Feel free to disabuse me of my interpretation of the sitch.

The alternative, moving to a more personal style, is to post that character material here, on the Blog of Heroes. Put a pointer to it, perhaps, from the forums (in case someone goes looking), but take the individual posts and either do them up in a single block, or else, plug them in, dated appropriately, and have their own categories ("Log / Psi-clone") here. The material stays at hand, in a probably-more-persistent format.

That's the direction I'm leaning, at least for the character stuff (which I care most about). Thoughts?


Posted by Dave at 9:41 AM | Comments (5) | TrackBack | Edit
Filed under: Consortium of Justice , This Blog

A minor victory

Whilst Margie was out, I finally got Lynn up to 33. It's been a while -- I've been using CoH Hero Builder for a bit, and I still didn't have one set up for her. Did some quick replanning for her later levels, then called it a (way too late) evening.

Posted by Dave at 6:11 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack | Edit
Filed under: Gameplay

September 5, 2006

Yeah, it's been one of those days


Posted by Dave at 5:23 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack | Edit
Filed under: Consortium of Justice

AoC Lite

I've created forum space (titled "Alliance of Champions Lite") for use of those who are -- left behind? opted out from? left to stew in their own cliquish juices? -- from the Final Alliance Implosion.

Anyway, I've created space for the CoJ, the SK, and the BS. If you create an account there (assuming you want something different from your CoI account), and you want moderation rights over your subgroup, let me know.

I'm in there, btw, as Three-Star Dave. Life's too short right now to create Multiple Alt IDs>

I'm going to be doing some digging about converting from phpBB to SMF. If I can work that, I can pull over the group stuff en masse (I hope).


Posted by Dave at 10:37 AM | Comments (3) | TrackBack | Edit
Filed under: Consortium of Justice

Munched

Did manage to hop on last night for what was to be Avocet's fairwell Monday Munchies/CoX appearance. No sign of him, but Ho Ho and Peep and Ginger Snap and (briefly) Bear Claws did get some Striga time in -- until (a) folks had to hop off to deal with character-booting brouhaha, and (b) Freedom started mapserving. So folks went off and soloed or did other stuff.

Doyce speculates whether -- given changing schedules and interest and involvement -- the Hostess Heroes (or Devils Food, for the two times I've seen them play) have much future. I hope so, given that they've been a light way of enjoying some teaming with good people, but the numbers have been dropping and, honestly, I'm not so dedicated to Ho Ho (or tanking) that I'm going to out soloing or duoing with her. So we'll see.


Posted by Dave at 7:39 AM | Comments (6) | TrackBack | Edit
Filed under: Gameplay

City of Junior High Cliques (Part II)

So ...

Well, I still don't know the whole story, but clearly a second Katrina hurled into the Alliance, sending what rather remarkable rebuilding had been done flying into the air like Dorothy's twister.

Casualties this time, beyond the immediate body count, appear to be the AoC forum, freedomphalanx.com, and the core Alliance, most/many of whom seem to be hieing off to the CoC forum and so on and so forth. The AoC forum evaporates along about 10/24, along with anything written there. And any further discussion there is currently moot, given that Stateswoman has locked the forums.

Joy. Another project (backing up that material).

So far as the Alliance goes, according to Captain Atomyc, "As of today the Freedom Phalanx, Crusaders, Noctem, and Virtue are leaving the organization. Any remaining members of those teams are welcome to continue on as such if they wish." Which is rather remarkable -- I guess, while I was sleeping somewhere, the FP became one of ... well, saying "them" makes it sound awfully factional, but ...

For the record, that "leaves" the Consortium of Justice, the Prelude to Justice (though I think they're leaving, too -- at least Cap mentions that Halorin's trying to organize some sort of all-Champions RP alliance), and the Storm Knights. And the Boomtown Saints, so far as that goes.

(It does make me wonder if it would be easier for the CoJ and the Storm Knights to simply get somehow kicked out, instead of everyone else leaving, but ...)

Where/what next? Questions.

Assuming we're basically talking about the CoJ and SK ...

  1. I will probably pull Velvet out of the Phalanx. I'm not sure who's left there that I've a big interest in playing with, anyway, and she's not a very active toon, and so forth.
  2. Do we need or want forum space somewhere? I can set up space where I have had have the CoI. I don't know nuthin' about transferring over old material. And it's an SMF forum, not a phpBB. And it may be moot, anyway. My own interest in maintaining ties can be (and has been, of late) handled in non-forum fashion, via e-mail, IM, this blog, or others'. And so long as I keep CoXing, this blog will stay up, and so (from a Dave-centric view), that's most of the forum that I need. Folks feel free to chime in on the subject.
  3. Assuming the CoJ gets dropped from coalition with the others, I plan to maintain CC with the Storm Knights (some fine folks over there, including a couple of my own). Anyone of my "little circle of friends" (as SB so delicately put it) is welcome to a slot in the CoJ, as a place to hang their SG hat. Don't worry about IC reasons -- we can work something out, and, frankly, that's right now the least of my worries. Indeed, I've spent about, oh, all the time I've spent on it this morning more time than I really had to spend on it. But it seemed worthwhile doing so.
  4. Again, I don't know all the skinny of what happened, save what I've been told by friends. That said, I've not seen anything in the forums that makes me doubt anything they've said, which makes the whole episode appallingly sad (and angering) and a lesson to be learned by us all on something or another about human nature, maturity, the Internet, social systems, politics, or whatever.
  5. I plan to continue to play CoX as opportunity presents and inclination inclines. I will continue to play mostly with Margie, just because that's the most convenient and the most fun. I'll welcome the opportunity to play with any of those who I'm interested in playing with (and who are interested in playing with me).

See you all in the funny papers, heroes.


Posted by Dave at 6:36 AM | Comments (15) | TrackBack | Edit
Filed under: Consortium of Justice

September 4, 2006

City of Junior High Cliques

I actually had a life over the Labor Day weekend -- aside from the Shadow Shard on Saturday afternoon.

Sometime thereafter -- Sunday night? -- evidently there was some sort of Great Januaryesque Brouhaha in the Alliance. I was unaware of this since, well, I wasn't on when it happened. And when I did sign on later Sunday evening, the CC and Alliance OOC were quiet.

When BD came over for dinner this evening, he mentioned that there had been some complaints, public posting of private stuff, people making threats, folks getting booted, and general brouhaha. And when I got on later tonight, I learned that some folks I know quite well had been booted from SG groups they were long-time members of.

So ... what the ...?

I really dislike this kind of finger-pointing name-calling faction-forming "Give in to my demands or else I'll take my ball and go home" kind of crap. And were it not that there are quite a few folks I enjoy playing with on occasoin, my inclination would be to simply withdraw from all of it and simply continue to do solo and duo stuff with Margie.

I mean, really, folks -- this is supposed to be City of Heroes. and, frankly, for all the drama I sometimes see with the Avenges and X-teams and Justice League, none of it seems to hold a camel to the immaturity I keep seeing around here.

(And, for what it's worth, if various associates who find themselves homeless would care to apply to the CoJ, give a holler. And, heck, if folks need new forum space ... let me know.)


Posted by Dave at 10:48 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack | Edit
Filed under: Consortium of Justice

September 2, 2006

Consortium Girls

After the SS4 TF, various of us got on doing stuff, and then all ended up together -- the Four Horsewomen of the Consortium (Zazi, Torchielle, T'Lauro, Hildegard). And we're all 38-39, too, by coincidence.

Posted by Dave at 5:41 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack | Edit
Filed under: Consortium of Justice

Shadow Shard #4 (at last)

Finally wrapped up Shadow Shard TF #4 (Saga of Lanaru), after about a month off. Baphomet went down quick and hard -- despite the final attack being a bit less than well-coordinated than preferable, given that Phred sort of jumped the gun. And Lanaru, after we took care of all his outer circle of hangers-on, and most of his inner one, was really no big problem. Doyce mentioned it was a 30-40 minute multi-death battle when he last did it -- for us, it was more like 5-10 minutes, one death, no worries.

Controllers (cough) rock. We had four of them, many buffs/debuffs/pets, and Lanaru was toast.

Fun times.

In the pic, L-R: (ground) Sword of Asgard, Noelle Frost, Amorpha, Puck Bunny, Monstress; (airborn) Malcalypse, Hang Time, Psi-clone.


Posted by Dave at 5:32 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack | Edit
Filed under: Gameplay

September 1, 2006

Good vs. Evil

A new joint CoH/CoV bundle will be on sale soon. Spiffy enough -- except for the exclusive bits going to those who decide to drop a bundle on the new bundle.

Most of the tchochkes don't rile me that much -- but exclusive costume and jump jet power stuff? I cry (provisionally) foul.


Posted by Dave at 4:34 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack | Edit
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