Glacier Peak

Ah fair question, so I ventured to watch this "new" series because I assumed it would tie in to the multiverse theme developing for Phase 4. I may have set my expectations too high, but the first two episodes were enough to make me think it was introducing content that hadn't yet been touched. For example....

Good point!

Awesome! I love fighting energy melee enemies. There's really not enough in the game though. Crey Power Tanks are all I can think of at the moment. Either way, I'm happy this set is being used by our community AE content creators.

If anyone finds it informative, I've satisfied my intent. I have searched many times after subsequent updates, notices, or small talk. It's nice having a thread that pulls most of it together. My next step will be to pull anything from the official Discord. Added Discord info to original post!

Edit in 2024 post-announcement: Well it was official months ago, but I now just remembered I made this thread. For any new players who were curious about the lead up to Homecoming being licensed, feel free to read on. No further updates will be made to the original post. ---‐---------------- ….no this isn’t click bait, I swear! I thought I’d start a thread for those inquiring forum goers who frequently ask about where things have been and where they are at regarding 'the talks.' Our awesome Homecoming (HC) volunteers push out updates every so often as they can, but they are a bit scattered over the landscape of these forums. So that being said, below is what I could dig up (happy to make edits if someone see a mistake!). I will provide a snippet and a direct link to the post instead of adding them as quotes in order for folks to see the source material. I added a few snapshots from the official Homecoming Discord as well. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- April 25th, 2019: A few days after the start of the public servers. First time @Jimmy describes a legal responsibility of those running these servers: April 28th, 2019: Short mention of legal concerns by @Jimmy related to funding for the server and the difference between soliciting and allowing donations. May 26th, 2019: Key announcement post from @Jimmy providing the community with the first major update on the status of the HC: May 29th, 2019: @Jimmy describes the grey area for hosting the server and CoH content. The beginning of the thread describes the standard documents that players agree to when playing MMOs, and the reasoning for developing their own for this game server: June 5th, 2019: @Jimmy replying to a user who inquired some tin-foil hat scenarios related to funding the servers, touches somewhat on the legal side. August 7th, 2019: @Jimmy posts an update on the legal discussion between HC, The Titan Network, and NCSoft August 7th, 2019: A short and sweet update from @Jimmy on “the talks.” August 7th, 2019: A little bit more detail from @Jimmy in the Discord post compared to the above short and sweet post on these forums. Mentions ongoing efforts to turn the game in to a legitimate operation. August 21st, 2019: Added for context later in that thread from non-HC rep @TonyV discussing HC and TitanNetwork’s legal discussion with NCSoft at the time: September 7th, 2019: A great thread started by @Jimmy to inquire what the community desired most out of a legitimate licensed server: November 30th, 2019: A GM answering a question regarding cracking down on recreating licensed characters and the legal talks: March 4th, 2020: @Jimmy providing a great deal of clarification on engagement, transparency, and community direction. A bit of legal flavor: March 7th, 2020: Update to the Code of Conduct to reflect headway/movement in “the talks” between HC and NCSoft. August 12, 2020: The next major update regarding the state of the project from @Jimmy. It is important to point out the impact of COVID on the ‘speed’ of these talks. The title of the game would be slowly changing “from City of Heroes: Homecoming to Homecoming: City of Heroes.” August 15th, 2020: A pedantic conversation from @Jimmy about the terms ‘NDA’ and ‘contractual obligation.’ Further clarification about the folks running the show - “a few crazy people doing stuff in their few spare hours, trying to make the most of very limited time and resources.” September 22nd, 2020: Just a brief snip from one of our great GMs replying to a user asking about the game's current legal situation: April 17th, 2021: A little background from @Jimmy and an awesome GM responding to an inquiry about the history of legal talks with NC. May 13th, 2021: Update to the CoC to allow video and streaming again! August 8th, 2021: Response from some helpful GMs to a player that was asking a question for a friend about the legal status of the game. November 5th, 2021: Helpful reminder of the structure of the Homecoming Team volunteers/how things are run (legal macguffins): January 4th, 2024: After a long hiatus on any public updates, we are given terrific news that Homecoming is now officially licensed!

This is also your opinion. The stated opinion of the Homecoming team, and really only opinion that matters, is that these servers will never be pay to play or involve payment for services in any way. So there ya go!

Oh, I don't have access to that.

Imagine getting to go on various travels across the multiverse with Dr. Webb, that'd be a fun series to make in AE if I had the slightest amount of imagination lol

To expand this out a little further, Dr. Webb was a brilliant scientist. In the early days, he worked with Back Alley Brawler and Statesman on the Freedom Phalanx as a technician. When he learned of the effects of Superadine, he wasn't deterred from pursuing further research even though it had moral and ethical concerns. He seems a bit like the story of Icarus to me. According to the Scholastic History Badge Plaques: Plaque near Dr. Kahn in Founders' Fall: "On July 7, 1988, the brilliant Dr. Brian Webb, former researcher for Freedom Phalanx, held a surprise press conference at this site. He announced that he had discovered a way to enter other dimensions. He demonstrated his technology for the awed spectators, even transporting a few lucky reporters and dignitaries to an alternate world. Dr. Webb said, 'My technology has proven that possibility is truly limitless. The future is what we make of it.'" In Brickstown, we find a lab that was once used by Dr. Webb to discover the strange relationship between Superadine and multi-dimensional travel: "This building was once the lab of Dr. Brian Webb, the brilliant scientist who broke the dimensional barrier and opened up whole new worlds to science. His notes reveal that his findings were linked to previous scientists' research on the effects of the drug Superadine. Much has been made of this discovery, but the link between the drug and the dimensional barrier remains a mystery." Another plaque in Brickstown speaks to Dr. Webb destroying the dimensional barrier and the consequences of his multi-versal traveling: "This plaque commemorates the invasion of Paragon City by foes from an alternate dimension. In 1988, after Dr. Brian Webb smashed the dimensional barrier, it seemed that the future could only be bright, full of wonders and discoveries. But Dr. Webb had not considered the dangers his discoveries entailed. He paid for his oversight with his life, dying at the hands of a militant people from another world, who used his portal technology to invade our own. Only with the help of the Freedom Phalanx were the invaders repelled."

I was a bit confused about this latest episode...

.... and I'm surprised that there isn't more about Dr. Brian Webb in game. I would've thought that Issue 1 would be the perfect time to add content about the guy, but it's just badge history or side notes in story arcs. The dude seemed pretty cool - would make for a dope time travel Mender arc to go back and team up with him. Anyone have any AE created arcs involving him? His backstory screams multi-versal time traveler.

I cannot confirm this. I was able to get every Ouroboros badge thru my SG Pillar of Ice and Flame.

Nope, you can run all of them through the SG Pillar of Ice and Flame.

Yeah this. I've only seen that type of thing occur with the Aaron Thiery and Matt Hasby arcs, where the player's choices remain in their game, but are not seen in other players unless they agree to take part in "their world."

I don't believe the last bit about the WIP has been teased on these boards yet, so this is a nice hint to the players of things to come!

This interpretation conflicts with what the in game lore describes for the Hydra's origin. Tina Macintyre's Hydra Multidimensional exploration badge story arc says: "After months of effort, some Portal Corporation techs have managed to isolate the dimension the Hydra comes from." Dr. Steven Sheridan tells us their method of communication in the same arc after completing that mission from Tina: "Mighty interesting, Character. Mighty interesting indeed. I'll tell you one thing: these Hydra Men aren't the simple blobs of protoplasm we thought they were. In fact, I think this green goop they were covered in is actually their method of communication. Now, mind you, this is only a theory. I think the Hydra communicate through chemical signals. One Hydra Man secretes certain chemicals into that green plasma. Then he touches another, who can instantly 'read' his message. It's quite sophisticated, I assure you. If you'll bear with me for a moment, I believe I can develop a new plasma that will let you understand their chemical signals. Communication will be only one way, but it should give you a better idea of what's going on in that world. The last mission dialog in that arc from Tina tell us that: "the Rikti have been kidnapping Hydra Men from the dimension you visited. Then they bring the creatures back to our world, to help them fight their war against us. I always assumed the Hydra Men were hostile, but maybe they're just confused. Kidnapped, uprooted, stuck on some strange new planet far from their families. No wonder they assume we're all their enemies! It's too bad Dr. Sheridan wasn't able to engineer a way for you to make yourself understood to the Hydra Men; then we could tell them we mean them no harm. But I guess it's best if we just do what they asked of us: leave them alone." This all aligns with my Buckets of Spoilers! Lore Galore! thread: "The Hydra were kidnapped by the Rikti from their home dimension to guard underground bases after the first Rikti Invasion. You can learn more about this in Tina MacIntyre's missions (even through the Ouroboros options, from the mission chain that gives the Multidimensional badge, though you don't actually have to finish the chain to get the badge, so many people don't) (Credit to @Lazarillo)" Per my thread below:

When I saw the orange and green goblin ball I was said WHAT! outloud 😄

I've not surpassed the first two pages, have you seriously hit 1,000 alts!? That is insane. 👏

Oh shoot! Apologies, you did point that out to me. I haven't toyed around with a Mac enough to say what needs to be done in this situation. @Number Six was there any reported issues recently with accessing the beta server from a Mac?

That hypothetical is called an outlier and could be hypothetically handled on a case by case basis by the Homecoming team. Late edit: sorry, meant to add I agree with the slippery slope point you made.

Did you use this link?

How about that! Man if Marvel/Sony can keep it together, Spiderman has so much potential in the future. I mean Spidey has been a part of pretty much every major super hero team in Marvel comics history. Now if we can just get Spidey, the X-Men, and Fantastic Four together on the screen!

A couple of AE badges, Passport, and I think that is about it. I've got close to 1500 badges on my main and the same thing happens when I roll an alt on the same server.

That is awesome 😆 I think it is fair to say that in addition to the 30 days a year I got leave, I was able to snag wifi at any of the bases I was at too. Even places like Afghanistan and Iraq had PXs and mobile hotspot cards you could pick up. All I'm saying is, if you wanted internet, you'd find it lol

I was on the beta Brainstorm shard yesterday for testing, I didn't have any issues logging in or playing, but I used the Homecoming Launcher, not Rum Island or Tequila.