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Title: Issue 3 is live Post by: ClydeJr on January 04, 2005, 11:55:24 AM Free respec still has some issues and will be given out later this week. Global chat also still has problems.
http://www.cityofheroes.com/news/updates.html Quote from: Some of the interesting stuff
Title: Issue 3 is live Post by: jpark on January 04, 2005, 01:48:39 PM I am out of the loop. No more 5th?
Great to see the Tanker changes - invuln scrappers really left me feeling bad for tanks. Title: Issue 3 is live Post by: schild on January 04, 2005, 01:50:05 PM I started a new toon the other day, first mission - 5th Column. So, Don't know.
Title: Issue 3 is live Post by: Shockeye on January 04, 2005, 01:59:24 PM Quote You can now hit an opponent with a melee attack while chasing after them. Love for the scrappers. Title: Issue 3 is live Post by: Mesozoic on January 04, 2005, 02:06:40 PM Quote from: schild I started a new toon the other day, first mission - 5th Column. So, Don't know. The other day not being today, then? Title: Issue 3 is live Post by: Mesozoic on January 04, 2005, 02:09:03 PM Quote from: jpark I am out of the loop. No more 5th? They're releasing to Europe and the Germans don't like things with Nazis in them. And Cryptic doesn't want two different storylines. So for the love of the German people, we're going to pretend the Nazi thing didn't happen. Ain't life weird? Title: Issue 3 is live Post by: jpark on January 04, 2005, 03:56:19 PM Quote from: Mesozoic Quote from: jpark I am out of the loop. No more 5th? They're releasing to Europe and the Germans don't like things with Nazis in them. And Cryptic doesn't want two different storylines. So for the love of the German people, we're going to pretend the Nazi thing didn't happen. Ain't life weird? I guess this answers a totally unrelated question of mine: how German culture portrays world war II in movies and their museums. This is not judgemental on my part - just genuine curiosity. Title: Issue 3 is live Post by: geldonyetich on January 04, 2005, 04:03:20 PM So Tankers finally get the abiliy to effectively taunt for the group,. Good!
Everybody else remains largely ignored until 40th. Post level 40, you get some elite powers. Good, but nothing I'll ever have to deal with because I'm never hitting level 40. Post level 50, you unlock the CoH equivilent of Jedis, which are apparentlya aliens and symbiotes. Also nothing I'll ever have to deal with. Self-difficulty adjustment mechanics, that's interesting. Where's my archery-based power set, biatch? Title: Issue 3 is live Post by: sidereal on January 04, 2005, 04:20:20 PM Quote from: jpark I guess this answers a totally unrelated question of mine: how German culture portrays world war II in movies and their museums. This is not judgemental on my part - just genuine curiosity. (Brian and Stewie are on a German tour bus) German Tour Guide: You vill find more on Germany's contributions to ze arts in ze pamphlets ve have provided. Brian Griffin: Yeah, about your pamphlet... uh, I'm not seeing anything about German history between 1939 and 1945. There's just a big gap. Tour guide: Everyone vas on vacation. On your left is Munich's first city hall, erected in 15... Brian Griffin: Wait, what are you talking about? Germany invaded Poland in 1939 and... Tour Guide: We were invited. Punch vas served. Check vit Poland. Brian Griffin: You can't just ignore those years. Thomas Mann fled to America because of Nazism's stranglehold on Germany. Tour guide: Nope, nope. He left to manage a Dairy Queen. Brian Griffin: A Dairy Queen? That's preposterous. Tour guide: I vill hear no more insinuations about the German people. Nothing bad happened. Sie werden sich hinsetzen! Sie werden ruhig sein! Sie werden nicht beleidigen Deutschland! (throws his hand up in a Hitler salute) Brian Griffin: ...uh, is that a beer hall? Tour guide: Oh yes, Munich is renowned for its historic beer halls. Title: Issue 3 is live Post by: stray on January 04, 2005, 06:03:08 PM Quote from: geldonyetich Post level 40, you get some elite powers. Great....My Gravity Controller gets a new bolt to help with the damage. Post level 40. Just when I need it the most. Fucking idiots. Title: Issue 3 is live Post by: Big Gulp on January 04, 2005, 07:33:35 PM Well, started a Peacebringer, and so far they're pretty damned great. Flight at level 1, very low endurance cost for my attacks, and my wonder twin power (shapeshifting) is frickin' fun. Grouping with one is even better. I've tried offensive groups and defensive groups and the way your powers change according to group makeup is pretty impressive. Makes for very different strategic play.
Very soloable, by the way. The "quantum" enemies that deal out big damage are much rarer then I thought they'd be, usually only one per mission. I was worried that this would turn out lame, but so far it definitely isn't. Title: Issue 3 is live Post by: Glazius on January 04, 2005, 08:37:39 PM Quote from: jpark Quote from: Mesozoic Quote from: jpark I am out of the loop. No more 5th? They're releasing to Europe and the Germans don't like things with Nazis in them. And Cryptic doesn't want two different storylines. So for the love of the German people, we're going to pretend the Nazi thing didn't happen. Ain't life weird? I guess this answers a totally unrelated question of mine: how German culture portrays world war II in movies and their museums. This is not judgemental on my part - just genuine curiosity. Statesman continues to say he's had the emergence of the Council planned for a while. You can still find the 5th on the server - usually throwing down with the Council. I suppose the ultimate determinant is whether Axis America is still there. Holy Bleak Custom Zone, Batman. If someone's in their 40s and hasn't done the mission yet (Tina McIntyre, I believe) it'd be a good move to check and see. The 5th as they were do not actually break any German laws. Their symbol is a skull with wings rather than the swastika (yes, even in Axis America), many of them have German names, but that's only for the badass factor. Based on what you pick up in the Path of the Dark storyarc (35+) it's very reasonable to give Ridolfo Uzzano different motivations than just the perpetuation of the master-race ideal, and the ensuing Warwolf World storyline confirms this. I'm willing to buy the plot justification. --GF Title: Issue 3 is live Post by: Pineapple on January 04, 2005, 08:43:54 PM Quote from: jpark I guess this answers a totally unrelated question of mine: how German culture portrays world war II in movies and their museums. This is not judgemental on my part - just genuine curiosity. Speaking publicly or writing anything in favor of Nazism is a crime in Germany. This isnt to hide the past, but rather to declare to themselves and the world that it will never happen again. Having a Nazi NPC organization in the game is just asking for trouble, especially when City of Villians comes out. So, better to avoid the hassle and change it. There are museums and memorials in Germany for the Holocaust victims, and they are done with a somber mood. Title: Issue 3 is live Post by: Pineapple on January 04, 2005, 08:46:53 PM Quote from: Glazius The 5th as they were do not actually break any German laws. Their symbol is a skull with wings rather than the swastika (yes, even in Axis America), many of them have German names, but that's only for the badass factor. Except for the fact that the player manual states that the 5th Column are a spin-off branch of Nazis. When City of Villians comes out, will you be allied to them in any way? Something like this is simply asking for trouble in Germany. It is in fact against the law. Go read up on the trouble some first person shooters got into in Germany when they had Nazis in their games. Title: Issue 3 is live Post by: Glazius on January 04, 2005, 09:43:46 PM Quote from: Pineapple Quote from: Glazius The 5th as they were do not actually break any German laws. Their symbol is a skull with wings rather than the swastika (yes, even in Axis America), many of them have German names, but that's only for the badass factor. Except for the fact that the player manual states that the 5th Column are a spin-off branch of Nazis. When City of Villians comes out, will you be allied to them in any way? Something like this is simply asking for trouble in Germany. It is in fact against the law. Go read up on the trouble some first person shooters got into in Germany when they had Nazis in their games. I've been following the discussion on the CoH forums, actually. I do agree that the main fear is that someone will start up a 5th group in City of Villains and start laying down the Nazi propaganda left and right. But the fact of the matter is that aside from the word "Nazi" appearing in a description of the former 5th Column in the manual, the 5th as they are now don't present Nazi symbology or ideology. They use German for the badass factor (because Fog, Night, and Fury just don't have that ring). It's a shame they dropped Axis America (yeah, checked it out) because that was one of the few custom outdoor zones. It _has_ been iterated on the forums, from actual German players, that the 5th Column and Axis America don't break any German statutes. --GF Title: Issue 3 is live Post by: Der Helm on January 05, 2005, 06:39:44 AM Quote from: Pineapple Something like this is simply asking for trouble in Germany. It is in fact against the law. Go read up on the trouble some first person shooters got into in Germany when they had Nazis in their games. I am by no way a lawyer, but I think I have a quite firm grasp on the laws, covering this subject. Over here, spreading nazi propaganda and/or glorification of nazi-germany, use of their symbols and things alike, are a serius crime, you go to jail for stuff like that. And rightly so. What brought some shooters on the index, was the fact that there where LOTS of symbols, all over the place. Not that I agree, as there was no glorification (germans are the bad guys, all the time), but our authorities tend to err "on the save side". Once the symbols where gone/switched for something else, the "ban" was usually lifted. Actually quite a loophole, that some (very small) german "partys" (http://www.npd.de/) use to their advantage. Cocksuckers. Now if you excuse me, I am off to troll their boards ... Title: Issue 3 is live Post by: HaemishM on January 05, 2005, 07:37:55 AM Quote from: Pineapple Speaking publicly or writing anything in favor of Nazism is a crime in Germany. This isnt to hide the past, but rather to declare to themselves and the world that it will never happen again. Yes, because not reminding people how one segment of history turned an entire nation into genocidal cockknobs is a real good way to ensure that future peoples don't get the same ideas. Or... "Those ignornant of history are doomed to repeat it." Same big FU goes to Japan for trying to whitewash Pearl Harbor into a "You knew we were coming!" kind of thing. Title: Issue 3 is live Post by: Mesozoic on January 05, 2005, 08:01:11 AM I get more irritated when the Japanese wail and cry about Hiroshima and Nagasaki while ignoring Nanking and other war crimes in China.
But...back to CoH.... looks like the 5th ARE still there, duking it out with the Council. Personally, I applaud Cryptic for not just going with the "5th what? Column? Never heard of it." approach. As with capes, they at least married development realities to game fiction. Title: Issue 3 is live Post by: Der Helm on January 05, 2005, 08:16:23 AM Quote from: HaemishM Quote from: Pineapple Speaking publicly or writing anything in favor of Nazism is a crime in Germany. This isnt to hide the past, but rather to declare to themselves and the world that it will never happen again. "Those ignornant of history are doomed to repeat it." You might want to re-read that quote ... Title: Issue 3 is live Post by: Pineapple on January 05, 2005, 08:29:17 AM Quote from: Glazius It _has_ been iterated on the forums, from actual German players, that the 5th Column and Axis America don't break any German statutes. --GF It isnt up to the "actual German players", however. It is now probably intertwined through the lawyers, who tend to take the safe route and protect the company first. Even at the mere threat of trouble, it is better to be safe and just change it. It could mean money. I'm speaking from the legal perspective on it. Whether or not anyone actually cares at all if 5th Column exists, strange and different behaviors occur within the legal system. Some company lawyer bending the ear of an exec can get many things changed, and nobody doubts lawyers within a company. Title: Issue 3 is live Post by: jpark on January 05, 2005, 08:29:19 AM More generally, what I like about what Crypitc is doing with its updates is it continues to offer more choices at higher levels, rather than the standard N+1 spell upgrade system endemic to other games.
You take the concealment pool then the flight pool etc. And at higher levels - 41+ - you get access to more pools to choose from (note 'choose" meaning you cannot have them all - which means one has to accept trade-offs and implement a strategy). I don't suffer from Denial - I know I am a fanboi :P Title: Issue 3 is live Post by: eldaec on January 05, 2005, 08:29:24 AM German law does not prevent the teaching of early twentith century history, quite the reverse in fact. Most of the guff talked on the subject is utter nonsense.
Specific symbols and parties cannot be represented in specific ways, it made life a lot easier for everyone in the immeadiate aftermate of the second world war. It now causes minor headaches to the entertainment industries. As others have pointed out.... 1) The 5th column have not entirely left the game. 2) The 5th do not have issues with German law (and if they have any that I missed, they would just be minor dialog changes to obscure story arcs) 3) I suspect the story arc hasn't finished and the 5th will return in some capacity. Title: Issue 3 is live Post by: HaemishM on January 05, 2005, 09:06:18 AM Quote from: Der Helm Quote from: HaemishM Quote from: Pineapple Speaking publicly or writing anything in favor of Nazism is a crime in Germany. This isnt to hide the past, but rather to declare to themselves and the world that it will never happen again. "Those ignornant of history are doomed to repeat it." You might want to re-read that quote ... I'm altogether in favor of allowing someone to speak in favor of Nazism. The more they speak, the more rational people will see them for the asshats they truly are. Things like Fascism, Communism, Conservativism, etc. are always much more dangerous when they have to resort to subltety, because most people couldn't catch subtlety with a net and a fucking map. So, many more people can be easily duped into the most heinous things simply because they weren't told the whole truth. Give Nazis all the exposure they want, and most people will look at them like they have snakes crawling out of their eyes. And yes, I am aware my spelling on the ignorance quote sucketh. Damnit Jim, I'm a writer, not a spellchecker. Title: Issue 3 is live Post by: Pineapple on January 05, 2005, 09:07:38 AM Quote from: eldaec 1) The 5th column have not entirely left the game. Yet. Quote 2) The 5th do not have issues with German law (and if they have any that I missed, they would just be minor dialog changes to obscure story arcs) We do not know what City of Villians will entail, and how the 5th Column will work exactly in that. So while it currently may not be a problem, it might be seen as a problem with future expansions unless a change takes place. Even a gradual change over time moves toward an end result, before the expansion is released. Title: Issue 3 is live Post by: Pineapple on January 05, 2005, 09:16:53 AM Quote from: HaemishM Give Nazis all the exposure they want, and most people will look at them like they have snakes crawling out of their eyes. Not always. During times of great stress or conflict, people act strangely and follow leaders that might not otherwise get any attention. It has happened many times in human history. These evil leaders got power somehow, someone at some point had to listen to them and think "yeah, that's right!". I think these laws however are more of a case where the winner of a war dictates how the loser of a war will behave from this point onward. The laws tell all the world "Ok look, its not going to happen here again". Title: Issue 3 is live Post by: HaemishM on January 05, 2005, 09:38:41 AM No, the laws tell the world "We're sticking our head in the sand and not listening when you talk about how bad we were! LALALALALA"
Title: Issue 3 is live Post by: eldaec on January 05, 2005, 09:40:05 AM Quote from: Pineapple We do not know what City of Villians will entail, and how the 5th Column will work exactly in that. True - it would, however, be trivial to set CoV up so that players cannot be in it if this posed a problem (I have a hard time seeing what possible legal problem it could cause mind you). In fact, I'd consider it extremely likely that if player villians are made part of villian groups (which also isn't certain), then they will probably be new groups not already in game. If I were handling the back story for CoV, I'd probably put CoV in an alternate dimension linked to CoH through the portal technology we see so much of. That way you can reuse the locations (retextured for their alternate present) and make certain elements of existing content available to CoV players, thus avoiding the problem DAoC has where they only get credit from an individual player for 33% of the content created. Being in an alternate dimension also has the advantage of not having to explain why certain villian groups that the devs might be uneasy about including aren't there. Technically far more countries have laws that would have problems with facilitating players joining the Trolls (drug users), Nemesis (racists), or even the Family (extortionists), than they would with the 5th, at least without putting a more restrictive age certificate on the game. Title: Issue 3 is live Post by: Mesozoic on January 05, 2005, 09:42:05 AM I <3 Cryptic (http://www.cityofheroes.com/paper/newspaper14.html)
I bet this will be interesting. And yes, this is a blatant re-rail. Title: Issue 3 is live Post by: stray on January 05, 2005, 09:46:59 AM Quote If I were handling the back story for CoV, I'd probably put CoV in an alternate dimension linked to CoH through the portal technology we see so much of. There's a comic with the same premise, actually. It's called "Wanted". It takes place in a world where the villians rule. All superheroes in their world have been killed off, so they start taking the fight to the heroes in alternate dimensions. Title: Issue 3 is live Post by: eldaec on January 05, 2005, 10:12:20 AM Quote from: jpark Quote from: Mesozoic Quote from: jpark I am out of the loop. No more 5th? They're releasing to Europe and the Germans don't like things with Nazis in them. And Cryptic doesn't want two different storylines. So for the love of the German people, we're going to pretend the Nazi thing didn't happen. Ain't life weird? I guess this answers a totally unrelated question of mine: how German culture portrays world war II in movies and their museums. No. It really doesn't. Title: Issue 3 is live Post by: CmdrSlack on January 05, 2005, 01:23:51 PM Quote from: HaemishM No, the laws tell the world "We're sticking our head in the sand and not listening when you talk about how bad we were! LALALALALA" But, see, that's not what happens. When I finished up my German degree, I had taken several classes on German culture and history, one of which was about the Holocaust in German film and literature. It's not illegal to mention that it happened, it's illegal to glorify Naziism. While you're right that for the most part, allowing nutjobs to speak freely keeps most people from listening to them, a quick look at the politics forum shows that even less scary nutjobs have followers who are pretty damn rabid. As a final comment, I'm of the opinion (call me an apologist if you wish) that most Germans weren't Nazis (as in actual party members) by choice. Hitler was, after all, a fascist dictator. He put political opponents in camps just like he did to the Jews, gays, socialists and gypsies. When you're faced with "be a Nazi" or "die in a fake shower," the choice is pretty clear for most death-adverse folks. Title: Issue 3 is live Post by: Sobelius on January 05, 2005, 01:46:12 PM What bothers me a little more than wondering how people under Nazi rule could "allow" it are two recent things:
1. Rwanda's genocide of 1994 and the implosion of Yugoslavia into warring ethnic cells. Both of these horrific regional events were conducted not under the guide of a single strong-arm dictator, but by many many members of the general population... 2. The way the GOP not only prevented any non-Bush supporter from attending Bush rallies (kicking out anyone wearing a Kerry t-shirt or button) but also (*worse*) REQUIRING that attendees sign a form saying they were Bush supporters. There was nothing illegal about this -- it's just that I found the very fact it happened -- and that people didn't question it as somehow smelling of fascism -- chilling. Growing up, I used to think nothing like the Holocaust could ever happen again -- I thought there was no way anyone in their right mind could even conceive of being part of such a thing again. I have since learned differently, of course. Title: Issue 3 is live Post by: Mesozoic on January 05, 2005, 01:57:47 PM You all are going to put this thread into the Politics forum, where there will be a great wailing and gnashing of teeth.
Title: Issue 3 is live Post by: Pineapple on January 05, 2005, 03:46:25 PM Quote from: Mesozoic You all are going to put this thread into the Politics forum, where there will be a great wailing and gnashing of teeth. Yes back on the topic. So... Peacebringers seem to draw a lot of agro to themselves. Maybe they just need to learn how to play the type. I dont want to be one shot killed by quantums though, so I'll pass on playing one. Title: Issue 3 is live Post by: stray on January 05, 2005, 11:58:21 PM So isn't Statesman's archrival the "Reichsman"? What happens to that guy?
Title: Issue 3 is live Post by: schild on January 06, 2005, 12:16:12 AM Quote from: Stray So isn't What happened to what guy? Title: Issue 3 is live Post by: eldaec on January 06, 2005, 12:50:38 AM Never heard of Reichsman, leader of the 5th Council is Requiem, an Italian facist possesed by an alien (this was the backstory at least since launch day, and remains the case under i3).
Most obvious nemesis of Statesman is Tyrant. Tyrant leads the Praetorians, who run are an alternate dimension evil version of the Freedom Phalanx (the heroes who give out levels and task forces). There is a 45-50 story arc where Statesman is captured by Tyrant and co, and you have to work you way through an arc of missions with an AV (or two) in each mission representing all the npc heroes' evil twins, finally rescuing Statesman at the end. Title: Issue 3 is live Post by: eldaec on January 06, 2005, 04:44:48 AM Quote from: Stray So isn't Statesman's archrival the "Reichsman"? What happens to that guy? I asked around, it would appear that Reichsman = Statesman in the Column/Council dimension rather than Statesman's archrival as such. Also, continuity has the Reichsman caputured and *FROZEN* in the FP HQ. Now, in my admittedly limited experience of comic book continuity there is only one reason for putting a character into any form of frozen state... And it rather reinforces my suspicion that the 5th will return in a future patch. Title: Issue 3 is live Post by: Mesozoic on January 06, 2005, 05:45:55 AM Anyone else here been to Striga Isle yet? Its a neat zone, but I noticed that some of the chase ranges, specifically for the bosses, seem to have gone way up. One OJ Council Boss chased me halfway across the zone, long after most mobs give up - and he kept bringing his friends with him.
What made it worse is that with SS/SJ, I would outpace them fast, then assume they were gone and attack other mobs. Then, halfway through a fight I would watch my health drop fast, turn around, and see the OJ boss and his 3+ friends firing at me from a distance. Later a Warwolf boss did the same thing. I knew that the bosses were getting toughened up, but I didn't read anything about increased chase ranges. Title: Issue 3 is live Post by: ClydeJr on January 06, 2005, 12:02:15 PM Someone put together a really good lore manual for CoH (http://www.slightlysilly.net/modules.php?name=Downloads&d_op=getit&lid=14). It's long but has some really interesting information about all the famous supergroups like Hero Corp, Freedom Phalanx, and the Midnight Squad. The guy who wrote is compiled all the info from stuff he pulled from the CoH website and the the game.
Title: Issue 3 is live Post by: Glazius on January 06, 2005, 09:44:14 PM Quote from: Mesozoic Anyone else here been to Striga Isle yet? Its a neat zone, but I noticed that some of the chase ranges, specifically for the bosses, seem to have gone way up. One OJ Council Boss chased me halfway across the zone, long after most mobs give up - and he kept bringing his friends with him. What made it worse is that with SS/SJ, I would outpace them fast, then assume they were gone and attack other mobs. Then, halfway through a fight I would watch my health drop fast, turn around, and see the OJ boss and his 3+ friends firing at me from a distance. Later a Warwolf boss did the same thing. I knew that the bosses were getting toughened up, but I didn't read anything about increased chase ranges. I haven't noticed any follow stuff as I went tooling around the game, aside from the ambushes. It might be that they turned super-follow on in Striga Isle because it's the Council's secret headquarters. --GF Title: Issue 3 is live Post by: HaemishM on January 07, 2005, 09:21:21 AM I went to Stiga Isle, but only for a few minutes before I had to log off yesterday. I didn't notice, but then didn't fight any bosses I couldn't kill either.
Title: Issue 3 is live Post by: UnSub on January 07, 2005, 10:18:32 PM Well, the Praetorian's version of Statesman is called Tyrant, and may be a Reichsman proxy.
However, instead of all the "it's illegal in Germany" stuff, another reason for the conversion of the 5th Column to the Council goes: 1) The 5th Column were among the first group of villains created by Cryptic, meaning they've had the longest time to work out a story for them. 2) The 5C are Nazis in name only and could be any type of paramilitary group in execution (hence the shift to the Council isn't so huge). 3) They are the only group to have any connection to the real world, so do stand out a bit in a game filled with wizards and mutants. 4) They could come back, led by the Reichsman, so a 5C vs Council war would be an interesting narrative. All in all, I suspect Germany had little to do with it. Title: Issue 3 is live Post by: Glazius on January 08, 2005, 12:51:34 PM Quote from: UnSub Well, the Praetorian's version of Statesman is called Tyrant, and may be a Reichsman proxy. However, instead of all the "it's illegal in Germany" stuff, another reason for the conversion of the 5th Column to the Council goes: ... 4) They could come back, led by the Reichsman, so a 5C vs Council war would be an interesting narrative. All in all, I suspect Germany had little to do with it. Just a note - watching the 5th Column and the Council fight it out you get a real appreciation for the AI in the game. Hordes of them are swarming around the river in Founders' Falls, attacking and counterattacking up and down the waterways and bridges. Putting that dynamic stuff earlier on in the game might not be a genius idea, if for no other reason than a gang war could snowball so large no hero who could get XP from the whole mess would be able to handle it, and getting pwned by a five-block brawl is not a happy feeling for a newbie. But I'd definitely like to see more of this more running combat AI. --GF Especially when I can watch the Rikti tire themselves out breaking into a bunker and then drop in and wave hello when they're all too tired to move. Title: Issue 3 is live Post by: Rodent on January 08, 2005, 07:09:26 PM Eh, my fire/fire tank is loving thoose brawls, Ofcourse he's only level 25, usually SK'd up to 35.
As a player though, I love how the remaining th Column ubermench forces are tearing the Council to shreads if left unatended. Also, I've said it before, I will say it again. The german "Nazi ban" only means that you cannot portray nazism in a good way and you can not show swastikas in entertainment products. Title: Issue 3 is live Post by: Llava on January 11, 2005, 03:40:26 AM I am disappointed that Axis America didn't survive the transition. There was really no reason to change it. The story certainly doesn't call for it (our reality's 5th Column experienced a coup, why would that have any affect on other realities?) and I doubt that the 3 or 4 missions in Axis America would be the cause of legal battles.
This is especially disappointing given Axis America's involvement in the world's story (reposted below for those who haven't read it). http://www.cityofheroes.com/features/fiction_otherworlds.html Quote The Statesman expressed profound regret that Dr. Webb had used the Supes research despite his desires. Nevertheless, Paragon City's greatest hero and his comrades could not help but be intrigued by the Portal Corp's new technology. Knowing how important first contact with other worlds can be, the Freedom Phalanx began sending its members along with Dr. Webb and his explorations. They wanted to make sure nothing dangerous followed the good doctor back. Unfortunately, they failed in this duty. While exploring a world where America had lost to Nazi Germany, the team ran afoul of that parallel Earth's greatest hero: The Reichsman. The Reichsman, an alternate version of our world's Statesman, led the Amerika Korps, an elite super powered hero organization that helped preserve Nazi rule over the former United States. Intrigued by these other-worldly interlopers, The Reichsman captured Dr. Webb and his explorers, tortured them to death, and ended up extracting a great deal of data about Webb's home dimension. Data is all well and good, but the Reichsman decided he wanted to see for himself, and so he led Amerika Korps through the portal and back to Paragon City. It didn't take long for the super-powered fascists to earn the attention of the Freedom Phalanx. Queen Comet, a prominent member of the Phalanx and friend of Dr. Webb, saw the alternate Statesman come through and, having been briefed by Portal Corp about the world Webb and his escorts were exploring, she quickly called for back-up and bravely fought off the invaders until helped arrived. Although seriously wounded, she managed to hold on until the Statesman and the rest of the Phalanx arrived. The ensuing battle raged through the Portal Corp laboratories and spilled out into the city streets. The Reichsman was every bit the equal of his all-American counterpart, and the two nearly beat each other into the ground. Fortunately, the rest of the Amerika Korps did not measure up to the Freedom Phalanx (apparently in his world the Reichsman did not take kindly to potential rivals, and thus their training had been somewhat lax.) With his henchmen defeated, it was only a matter of time before the evil Statesman fell. To this day he remains frozen in suspended animation within the Freedom Phalanx's main headquarters. Title: Issue 3 is live Post by: Glazius on January 15, 2005, 08:10:04 AM Update part one - every character in the game now has a respec. Log in, see "you have 1 unclaimed respec(s) available", type /respec. It works like Jack Wolfe in Galaxy City from wherever you are (or for those who've never made it to TV - you retain your primary and secondary powerset, lose all power pools, and make all-new power selections (including new power pools) like you were leveling up one power at a time. You add enhancement slots the same way, one level's worth at a time (with the powers you didn't take yet grayed out). Then you reshuffle your enhancements, and any leftover are auto-sold for 25% of market value. This is for everybody from level 1 to level 50 - they delayed it because there was a bug with some people not getting awarded the respec.
Update part two (http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showflat.php?Cat=&Board=Dev&Number=2070950&page=0&view=collapsed&sb=5&o=&fpart=all) - the devs are going to roll back the hardening of bosses and use the new difficulty slider to influence solo missions - if you're solo and at the default setting, you will never see a (named) boss in your missions, unless it's the capper to a storyarc. They're also going to bump up the existing group XP bonus. Update part three - "What's the motto of House Stark?" --GF Title: Issue 3 is live Post by: Llava on January 15, 2005, 01:06:54 PM Quote from: Glazius any leftover are auto-sold for 25% of market value. I was under the impression that it was 100%. Statesman made a post yesterday about the boss changes, and it's this sort of thing that makes me such a fanboy. Quote What’s our goal? Simply put: if a player wants to do something solo, it should be CHOICE. Teaming shouldn’t be required, but rather encouraged. Title: Issue 3 is live Post by: eldaec on January 15, 2005, 02:08:33 PM 100% of sale value, which is 25% of purchase value if you sell them to random vendors instead of origin appropriate vendors.
At least that is my undersatdning. I've never respeced anyone below level 35 and so never respecced a hero who did not have, in effect, infinite influence already. Title: Issue 3 is live Post by: Righ on January 15, 2005, 06:29:18 PM Quote from: Glazius Update part three - "What's the motto of House Stark?" Haven't played CoH for a while, so I don't undertsnd the reference, but "Winter is Coming". Somebody give Mr. Martin the hurry up, A Feast of Crows has been coming for far too long. Title: Issue 3 is live Post by: Glazius on January 15, 2005, 08:33:01 PM Quote from: Righ Quote from: Glazius Update part three - "What's the motto of House Stark?" Haven't played CoH for a while, so I don't undertsnd the reference, but "Winter is Coming". Somebody give Mr. Martin the hurry up, A Feast of Crows has been coming for far too long. The Winter Horde is slowly creeping over the city. There's a giant monster who tosses around snowballs which grow into little monsters, and there are multiple copies currently appearing in the trial/hazard zones. Over the next few days the spawn rate will ramp up and they'll start showing up in the main city zones. The above quote is verbatim from the CoH boards - a dev posted it in response to a question about the "winter event" from the December newsletter. --GF Title: Issue 3 is live Post by: Llava on January 15, 2005, 10:02:57 PM There is a badge for defeating the monster, and a badge for defeating 100 of his minions. Defeating any of them gives you a "snowball" temporary power that doesn't really do anything except play an animation of you throwing a snowball at your target. Works on other heroes, too. People have been tossing them around a lot.
They also put in some inspirations for this, called Presents. Some give effects that are unique, such as immunity to debt for an hour. Title: Issue 3 is live Post by: Murgos on January 16, 2005, 06:11:19 AM (http://www.coh.com/paper/images/cold_01.jpg)
Thats it I'm resubbing Friday (no tearlier because I got too much to do this week and I don't need the distractions). Is everyone still on Victory? I would rather not start over but if there are a significant amount of peeps playing on a different server I will. Title: Issue 3 is live Post by: ClydeJr on January 17, 2005, 11:49:13 AM Winter is coming indeed. Found these friendly snowmen in Eden. I kept my distance. Just to give you a size comparison, the little snowmen by the 2 top Winters Lords are hero-sized.
(http://www.arscoh.com/coh/gallery/albums/EnronExecutive/frostyconvention.sized.jpg) Like Llava said above, you get a badge for killing the big guy and a badge for killing 100 little minions that it creates. Unfortuntely this just leads to camping the big guy until everyone gets their minion badge. Considering he only tosses about a set of 3 minions every 1-2 minutes, this can take a long time, especially if other groups are trying to get the minions. Here's the ghost ship as it sails through Independance Port. Every so often it disembarks a load of spectral passengers. If you kill 50, you get a badge. (http://www.arscoh.com/coh/gallery/albums/EnronExecutive/ghostship2.sized.jpg) Title: Issue 3 is live Post by: AOFanboi on January 18, 2005, 03:42:31 AM Quote from: ClydeJr Unfortuntely this just leads to camping the big guy until everyone gets their minion badge. Considering he only tosses about a set of 3 minions every 1-2 minutes, this can take a long time, especially if other groups are trying to get the minions. See? This is where instancing is your friend. Seems I may want to reactivate my CoH subscription RSN. WoW is taking forever to reach Norway. Title: Issue 3 is live Post by: Rodent on January 18, 2005, 04:23:05 AM Quote from: ClydeJr Like Llava said above, you get a badge for killing the big guy and a badge for killing 100 little minions that it creates. Unfortuntely this just leads to camping the big guy until everyone gets their minion badge. Considering he only tosses about a set of 3 minions every 1-2 minutes, this can take a long time, especially if other groups are trying to get the minions. The trick is to never let him go into melee range, he'll throw thoose snowballs ( that spawn 3 minions ) quite often. My group got both badges in about 15-20 minutes in Striga Island.. Ofcourse the bastards just sat there while I ran around the badguy constantly taunting him. Title: Issue 3 is live Post by: Glazius on January 18, 2005, 05:50:59 AM Quote from: Rodent Quote from: ClydeJr Like Llava said above, you get a badge for killing the big guy and a badge for killing 100 little minions that it creates. Unfortuntely this just leads to camping the big guy until everyone gets their minion badge. Considering he only tosses about a set of 3 minions every 1-2 minutes, this can take a long time, especially if other groups are trying to get the minions. The trick is to never let him go into melee range, he'll throw thoose snowballs ( that spawn 3 minions ) quite often. My group got both badges in about 15-20 minutes in Striga Island.. Ofcourse the bastards just sat there while I ran around the badguy constantly taunting him. A bit of a dangerous proposition unless you have knockdown protection, since the other things he does at range are freezing rain and ice patch, which will have you on your behind before you can say boo. But yeah, the only time he throws snowballs is when he's aggroed on something he can't ice sword/stomp. --GF Title: Issue 3 is live Post by: Rodent on January 18, 2005, 06:06:55 AM Quote from: Glazius A bit of a dangerous proposition unless you have knockdown protection, since the other things he does at range are freezing rain and ice patch, which will have you on your behind before you can say boo. But yeah, the only time he throws snowballs is when he's aggroed on something he can't ice sword/stomp. --GF Not really dangerous at all if you have a tanker or scrapper taunt him, since they all have status protection ( Though my firetank had to pick up acrobatics to get the knockback resistance ). And if you're not, well you deserve the debt. Title: Issue 3 is live Post by: HaemishM on January 18, 2005, 09:05:22 AM On a separate note about Issue 3, Stiga Isle's soundtrack is the rockingest thing I've heard in a while. Two thumbs up!
Title: Issue 3 is live Post by: jpark on January 18, 2005, 10:40:17 AM That ghost ship is a very cool idea. Nice.
Going to stick to WoW for now, I just hate dividing what little time I have among games. Title: Issue 3 is live Post by: ClydeJr on January 18, 2005, 10:49:56 AM Quote from: Rodent Quote from: ClydeJr Like Llava said above, you get a badge for killing the big guy and a badge for killing 100 little minions that it creates. Unfortuntely this just leads to camping the big guy until everyone gets their minion badge. Considering he only tosses about a set of 3 minions every 1-2 minutes, this can take a long time, especially if other groups are trying to get the minions. The trick is to never let him go into melee range, he'll throw thoose snowballs ( that spawn 3 minions ) quite often. My group got both badges in about 15-20 minutes in Striga Island.. Ofcourse the bastards just sat there while I ran around the badguy constantly taunting him. Maybe I got a slacker of a snowman, but he didn't seem to be tossing them that often. I took my invul tanker, turned on all his defenses (including the Unyielding status proteection), turned on auto-taunt at range on the Winter Lord, and walked away from the computer. The Lord couldn't hurt me enough to cause any problems and we have a fire tank that would Burn the minions when they appear. It was incredibly easy to get the badge, just boring as hell. My main problem is that to get the minion badge almost requires camping. Almost every other "kill x foozle" badge I've received, I've earned through normal missions. This one you almost have to get through camping. I imagine you could kill multiple Lords and in the process kill about 15 minions at the same time. But to kill a Winter Lord, you have to have a team and most people are going to do the most efficient thing which is camping. Which is boring. I think a more interesting idea would be have random snowman ambushes in missions. You're fighting a bunch of normal villans and then about 5 snowman minions come runnning up and attack. Title: Issue 3 is live Post by: Glazius on January 18, 2005, 11:07:43 AM Quote from: ClydeJr Quote from: Rodent Quote from: ClydeJr Like Llava said above, you get a badge for killing the big guy and a badge for killing 100 little minions that it creates. Unfortuntely this just leads to camping the big guy until everyone gets their minion badge. Considering he only tosses about a set of 3 minions every 1-2 minutes, this can take a long time, especially if other groups are trying to get the minions. The trick is to never let him go into melee range, he'll throw thoose snowballs ( that spawn 3 minions ) quite often. My group got both badges in about 15-20 minutes in Striga Island.. Ofcourse the bastards just sat there while I ran around the badguy constantly taunting him. Maybe I got a slacker of a snowman, but he didn't seem to be tossing them that often. I took my invul tanker, turned on all his defenses (including the Unyielding status proteection), turned on auto-taunt at range on the Winter Lord, and walked away from the computer. The Lord couldn't hurt me enough to cause any problems and we have a fire tank that would Burn the minions when they appear. It was incredibly easy to get the badge, just boring as hell. My main problem is that to get the minion badge almost requires camping. Almost every other "kill x foozle" badge I've received, I've earned through normal missions. This one you almost have to get through camping. I imagine you could kill multiple Lords and in the process kill about 15 minions at the same time. But to kill a Winter Lord, you have to have a team and most people are going to do the most efficient thing which is camping. Which is boring. I think a more interesting idea would be have random snowman ambushes in missions. You're fighting a bunch of normal villans and then about 5 snowman minions come runnning up and attack. I'm not sure how you managed to _stay_ at range AFK, unless you were on some bridge abutment or something. If the Winter Lord is close enough to hit you with an ice sword or foot stomp he doesn't throw the snowball full of tinier men. This scale of camping was also "required" with the Halloween event, where the easiest thing to do was get a group of eight and sit around a door for an hour or so until you got all the Halloween monster badges but one, then head out and lay the smack down on a Pumpkin King. BTW, I love how 'camping' is now defined as 'trying to stay out of a giant monster's range while it does its best to make a popsicle out of you'. --GF Edited to add a thought - I've seen more Winter Lords with bigger swarms of minions in the past few days. Maybe as part of the planned scale-up spawns of just the lower-tier snowbeasts will show up in city zones, with the monsters staying in hazard zones? Title: Issue 3 is live Post by: Glazius on January 18, 2005, 05:25:47 PM And another update - today, they added ranged defense back into Invincibility, and finally finished the art fixes that will allow all Ice, Stone, and Dark Armors to stack, except for Stone's Granite Armor.
Also, glowies now make a sound, but only while they're glowing. Full list here. (http://www.cityofheroes.com/news/updates.html) --GF Title: Issue 3 is live Post by: Azhrarn on January 19, 2005, 11:40:20 AM Slightly unrelated to Update 3 I think (just general updates):
http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showflat.php?Cat=&Number=2070950&page=0&view=collapsed&sb=5&o=&fpart=1#2070950 'A system will allow players to drop unwanted missions or do old missions that have been passed over (the infamous “flashback”).' Title: Issue 3 is live Post by: Shockeye on January 19, 2005, 11:52:37 AM Quote from: Statesman What’s our goal? Simply put: if a player wants to do something solo, it should be CHOICE. Teaming shouldn’t be required, but rather encouraged. If a player gets a mission with an Arch Villain, he’ll be able to drop it and get another. They certainly seem to know what they're doing. They get a thumbs-up from me. Title: Issue 3 is live Post by: ClydeJr on January 19, 2005, 02:55:59 PM My tanker finally got a contact in Striga Isle so I started to do missions there. After a "Kill 10 Council" mission, I got one where I had to stop the Family from sending a load of Superadine to Independance Port. I bounce over to the mission entrance which was a door on one of the freighter cargo ships. I didn't really think about what the mission would look like. Imagine my surprise when I see a completely new (at least to me) tileset: the inside of a cargo ship.
(http://www.arscoh.com/coh/gallery/albums/EnronExecutive/cargoship1.sized.jpg) (http://www.arscoh.com/coh/gallery/albums/EnronExecutive/cargoship2.sized.jpg) (http://www.arscoh.com/coh/gallery/albums/EnronExecutive/cargoship3.sized.jpg) So for missions you can have one of the following maps: Office building Warehouse Standard Caves Council/5th Column Caves Troll Caves High Tech Lab CoT Orenbega Cargo Ship Outdoor City Area with Parking Garage Outdoor City Area with Carnie Tents Outdoor Narrow City Area Outdoor Forested Area Outdoor Coastline with Island Outdoor Factory Area Outdoor Graveyard with Temple at one end Outdoor Graveyard with Temple on center plateau Outdoor Flooded City Outdoor Destroyed City and probably some others I missed, not to mention the one-time ones like the Cavern of Transcendence, the Hydra Trial, and the Eden Trial. Plus a lot of these areas have different variations. The office building can be Normal, Destroyed, Hellion (on fire), or Frostfire (frozen). I really hope they continue to add more tilesets and variations on the old ones. Title: Issue 3 is live Post by: Llava on January 20, 2005, 02:20:49 AM Rock Armor
(http://www.chaosphere.org.uk/images/coh/smallpoo.jpg) Rooted (http://www.tvsian.com/dumpster2.jpg) Crystal Armor (http://www.tvsian.com/dumpster4.jpg) Mineral Armor (http://www.tvsian.com/dumpster5.jpg) Granite Armor (http://www.tvsian.com/dumpster7.jpg) Title: Issue 3 is live Post by: Glazius on January 20, 2005, 04:59:22 AM Wow! Man, that's an overhaul and a half!
What about Brimstone? --GF Title: Issue 3 is live Post by: Llava on January 20, 2005, 12:49:24 PM (http://www.crystalblue.dk/keepf.jpg)
A bunch stacked (http://www.crystalblue.dk/keepall.jpg) Title: Issue 3 is live Post by: Rodent on January 20, 2005, 04:29:09 PM The granite armor looks cool, but the rest are worse then the poo-armor of old.
Title: Issue 3 is live Post by: Shockeye on January 20, 2005, 04:32:04 PM Quote from: Rodent The granite armor looks cool, but the rest are worse then the poo-armor of old. I would have to agree. Those armors sans granite are very lackluster and border on the fugly. Title: Issue 3 is live Post by: Llava on January 20, 2005, 06:54:17 PM I prefer the others to granite. I don't like powers that completely obscur the character. Why have such an amazing character customization process only to make all characters of a given type look alike in the end?
I like the new stuff, but the characters they're on in those pictures are ugly. Given a character who looks more appropriate, I think they look much better. Title: Issue 3 is live Post by: SurfD on January 20, 2005, 06:56:25 PM Brimstone and Rock armor look pretty good.
The crystal and mineral ones just dont look like ARMOR, which is part of their problem. Rooted also looks kind of gimpy. Title: Issue 3 is live Post by: eldaec on January 21, 2005, 12:20:12 AM What I like most about the new effects is that they are more obviously designed to be stacked and run perma.
Old defence effects (all lines) clearly did not have this in mind, which is why they were all too overbearing, bright, garish. Crystal and Mineral might not look like armour alone - but they would never be used alone in a situation where real tanking is required, they are really upgrades rather than alternative armours. Also I second what Lava said about the characters used as examples above. Title: Issue 3 is live Post by: Glazius on January 21, 2005, 05:13:22 AM Quote from: eldaec What I like most about the new effects is that they are more obviously designed to be stacked and run perma. Old defence effects (all lines) clearly did not have this in mind, which is why they were all too overbearing, bright, garish. Crystal and Mineral might not look like armour alone - but they would never be used alone in a situation where real tanking is required, they are really upgrades rather than alternative armours. Also I second what Lava said about the characters used as examples above. Actually, it would be possible to tank the psychic clockwork with just minerals, or AntiMatter's Particle Mechs (what they're like is not important) with just crystal armor, but these are the very rare exceptions to the rule. --GF |