Along Came a Spider Expansion coming

[Xanthippe]

Free expansion #6 available for download prior to being released on live servers.  The download begins after exiting a play session and can be cancelled anytime - progress will be saved and dl'ing can be resumed at a later time.

No information yet on when this will go live but assume it's soon.

[Signe]

Maybe it will go live with the release of CoV as people seem to be predicting.  We'll have a lot to do if it does, B-Girl!   

[Xanthippe]

You're right.  This is the CoV expansion.

Are you going to play on Victory again, or stay on test?

[Signe]

I'll probably play my heroes on Victory.  I don't know about villains.  Everyone seems to be heading for Virtue.  I don't mind splitting up my heroes and villains, thoyugh... what's the difference?

[Xanthippe]

That's what I think as well.  Starting over anyway, in terms of influence (not that I have a 50 already, so I don't y et have extra influence).

Virtue for CoV then?

[Signe]

Sounds like a plan.  Maybe someone will let us in their nifty keen supergroup, too!

[Typhon]

I saw a response from cuppajoe that said, "if you are saving a free respec, use it by Thursday".  So, either Thursday or Friday... or Monday.  There, I really narrowed it down, eh?

[Llava]

If you two end up on Virtue for CoV, you're welcome in my supergroup.  We'll be called Mentes Reae.

[Daydreamer]

That has to be one of THE nerdiest guild names I have ever heard of.  I love it :).

[Signe]

Is it required that you be a lawyer?  I don't know about Xant, but I'm not one and I'm usually mean to those who are one.

[Xanthippe]

I'm just a jailhouse attorney.  Does that count?

[Llava]

No lawyer requirements.

Brief history lesson:
We come from a DAoC guild called "Slane Baanrit".  Roughly translated, that's Gaelic for "Plum Crazy".

When we moved to CoH, I was the first one to 10 and decided I wanted to pay tribute to our old guild name.  Gaelic, however, wasn't exactly fitting with the setting.  So I picked Latin, "Non Compos Mentis" meaning insane, not mentally capable, retarded, whatever else you think fits.

It was then suggested, to pay tribute to THAT name, that the villain group be called Mentes Reae.

I'm very happy with the name and, as soon as it was suggested, stood behind it.  It just felt natural.  Most everyone else agreed, so we're going with it.

I should probably give you some idea how the SG works since you have no idea what to expect:

Basically, we're just a group of friends who came over from DAoC.  There's no strict hierarchy.  New members are a rare occurance.  We plan to PvP, and we're usually very good as a team, but we're not exactly hardcore.  Guild chat gets pretty blue, so if that bothers you I suggest leaving your censor on and making a "LA LA LA LA LA LA LA" macro.  It's a laid back, friendly, mature crowd.  Weirdos should fit right in.

Since it's not "my" supergroup, but "our" supergroup, I don't want to say "Door's open, folks! Come on in!"  Obviously I want to pass it with them all first.  I don't want to see a sudden flood of virtual strangers anymore than they do.  But if just a few folks on Virtue are looking for a decent SG, I can help out.  (Realize, only one other person in my SG views f13 with any regularity.  So while you all may not be strangers to me, you are to them and I know how much it sucks when someone suddenly invites 30 people you don't know at all and your guild is suddenly not recognizable.  So it ain't personal if we start to take in too many and I say "No more, them's the breaks.")

[Xanthippe]

I like the guild name (I was a legal assistant in a previous life, so I'm used to that sort of dirty talk).

I've always wanted to make a bumper sticker that says

Superfluity does not vitiate - not just a good idea, it's the law!  Ca.Civ.Code §3537

[Llava]

My global handle, btw, is @Llava

Hard to believe, I know.

[Alkiera]

Well, it's live today...  issue 6 of CoH, that is.  As expected, it includes the PvP zones for linking with CoV, as well as Enhancement Nerfification.

Also patched in today, LAG FROM HELL.  I don't know if it was people reupping CoH in preperation for CoV, or what, but the servers were insanely laggy... and not normal lag for CoH.  The client was acting up, being stuttery, I'd hit someone with my sword and it'd take a bit for the damage to register, then a couple seconds later he'd fly into the air, and then fall in slow motion, in a slow, very choppy bullet-time like effect.  Often I could not even move.

Something is Very Wrong.

Alkiera

[Xanthippe]

Just finished playing a bit; the earlier lag was pretty much gone.  Played in Warburg, did a very little bit of pvp.

Question: will Warburg be an unlimited pvp zone - i.e., heroes vs. heroes vs. villians vs. villians? Or will it be heroes vs. villians?

I love new content.

Oh, and I never ran out of end, did 4 missions with a couple other people.  Not once did I run out.  I am not unhappy about ED at all.  But I'm playing a controller; don't know how it is for a scrapper or tanker.

I'm actually quite pleased with how my toon works - and I haven't respecced yet.  So this may not be a bad change after all.

Very happy with new monsters, quests, zones, the whole pvp thingie, ... Fun.

[Llava]

Bloody Bay and Siren's Call are Heroes VS Villains.

Warburg is You VS Everyone.

[Alkiera]

Oh, and I never ran out of end, did 4 missions with a couple other people.  Not once did I run out.  I am not unhappy about ED at all.  But I'm playing a controller; don't know how it is for a scrapper or tanker.

I'm actually quite pleased with how my toon works - and I haven't respecced yet.  So this may not be a bad change after all.

The kicker for me is the ~25% reduction in the damage of my attacks...  as a BS scrapper, I should be known for my big damage numbers, and slow attacks.  I have been known for them in the past.  Now?  My highest damage attack, one of the highest damage non-DoT attacks in the game, can't one-shot an even-con minion.  Not even close.  Because the 5 SO damages I had in it went from increasing damage by 166.5% to 105%.

I can drop 2 damages, and be down to 95% +dmg, and put it in recharge... and basically have it refresh as fast as it used to with Perma-Hasten.  Maybe this weekend I can respec and see how I feel about it then.

Alkiera

[Signe]

I'm just going to start new characters.  I'm afraid if I respec my wee scrapper one more time, she'll break in two.  Wait.  Then I'll have two wee wee scrappers!  Err... I'll have more coffee soon, don't worry.  Let us know about the respec.  I'm curious to see what people think afterwards.

[Glazius]

In news nobody cared about, CoH has upped EQ2's 'monster arena' PvP with 'Gladiator' matches - you unlock specific gladiators by acquiring other badges, construct an army using a miniatures-esque point system, and command your charges with the CoV Masterminds' henchman control interface.

--GF

[Nevermore]

Anathema, I choose you!

[Alkiera]

In news nobody cared about, CoH has upped EQ2's 'monster arena' PvP with 'Gladiator' matches - you unlock specific gladiators by acquiring other badges, construct an army using a miniatures-esque point system, and command your charges with the CoV Masterminds' henchman control interface.

--GF

yeah, I logged on my scrapper, and got about 10 badges related to various groups I could control in the gladiator arena... From Nemesis robots to 7th Gen Paragon Protectors.  I've read about the combats in beta, the actual players are in the arena, but can't eb attacked, only minions can be attacked.  There's a wide variety of minions, and you can only have so many of each, so you can't fill your army with paragon protectors, for example.  There's also a point cap.

People seemed to think it was kinda interesting, the few who tried it, anyway.

Alkiera

[tazelbain]

This is a seperate mini-game?

[Alkiera]

This is a seperate mini-game?

It takes place in the arena, so yes, it's a seperate sort of thing.  players can't attack or take damage inside, the only thing player-level/experience gives you is more types of minions.  All minions are of the same level range inside the arena.

Alkiera

[Llava]

It's fun but hilariously unbalanced.  For something as unimportant as this, that's okay.  But if they want it to be considered real entertainment and not fluff, it needs balancing.

A Caliban (Troll Boss), for instance, only costs 250 points.  A Freakshow Tank (Freak Boss) costs about 400.  The tank is not that much better.  I would argue that they're about equal.  Then there are tons of cases of minions costing more than the Calibans, and that's not even a contest- the Caliban will own.

There are some bugs as well.  Freakshow Tanks are supposed to resist Smashing damage, but a friend of mine has some CoT ArchMages of Agony who take about 1/3 the damage from any smashing attack that a Tank takes.  And they hold.  And heal.

So it's fun, but not exactly "working".  I don't know if it will receive balance attention or not- if it's just intended as some extra fluff, it's not really a big deal.

[Stormwaltz]

A Caliban (Troll Boss), for instance, only costs 250 points.  A Freakshow Tank (Freak Boss) costs about 400.  The tank is not that much better.

Will the Tank sometimes rez itself, as in PvE? That could account for the cost difference. Though a chance of rezzing doesn't seem worth 150 points to me. Maybe 75-100, depending on how often they do it.

[Glazius]

There are some bugs as well.  Freakshow Tanks are supposed to resist Smashing damage, but a friend of mine has some CoT ArchMages of Agony who take about 1/3 the damage from any smashing attack that a Tank takes.  And they hold.  And heal.

So it's fun, but not exactly "working".  I don't know if it will receive balance attention or not- if it's just intended as some extra fluff, it's not really a big deal.

The archmages should be elite bosses and pointed accordingly. They're those superCoT you fight during the Saga of Faathim TF.

--GF

[Llava]

There are some bugs as well.  Freakshow Tanks are supposed to resist Smashing damage, but a friend of mine has some CoT ArchMages of Agony who take about 1/3 the damage from any smashing attack that a Tank takes.  And they hold.  And heal.

So it's fun, but not exactly "working".  I don't know if it will receive balance attention or not- if it's just intended as some extra fluff, it's not really a big deal.

The archmages should be elite bosses and pointed accordingly. They're those superCoT you fight during the Saga of Faathim TF.

--GF

Well, she has enough points to get 3 of those and 2 Calibans, which is basically unbeatable.

So elite bosses or not, it's still broken.

And yeah, the Freakshow do have a chance to rez themselves.  Useful, sure, but Calibans still pretty much own them.