DoctorDitko

Fair point! I'm old enough to remember the Balmer days of "Linux is a cancer," so for me they have a lot of karma to work off. But, yeah, apart from the telemetry stuff, they have somewhat cleaned up their act. 10 is objectively more secure than 7. Imagine if NCsoft said, "Homecoming, go ahead, have fun!" But they didn't make it official. That's kind of how I feel.

If you turned off Secure Boot or your TPM chip in BIOS/UEFI (like I did, out of an abundance of caution for installing Linux) you may need to enable them to make Windows 11 or the PC Health Check util happy. I did. But only 1 i7 (the Intel Core i7-7820HQ Microsoft used for their $3500 Surface) is deemed worthy. Sorry! OTOH, it should work fine if you install 11 unsupported. You just may need to jump through hoops to keep it updated. BTW, it looks like the DCH driver system (the non-uninstallable, no choice-style-drivers that I avoid) is the default for 11. No word I've heard of on workarounds yet. I'm picky about drivers and insist on being able to roll back. I'll stick with WHQL drivers, thanks!

Thanks for the correction! No idea where I got the notion from, as I haven't seen the HBO series. A review maybe? Forgettery superpower strikes again!

Please do. It's well worth the trouble of hunting it down. The lackluster Wikipedia entry really doesn't do it justice.

I haven't seen it, so probably not. But my forgettery gets better every year, so I may be wrong.

Did someone call for Zebraman?

All down to the post-shutdown devs, I guarantee.

Aw! Some of my favorite stories are when the villains and heroes work together. DCAU Justice League's "A Better World" comes to mind. Also Batman Brave and Bold (arguably the most COH-like of his animated adventures; all PUGs) "Deep Cover for Batman/Game Over for Owlman" complete with "Curse you for your sudden but inevitable betrayal!" moment.

Close, but no cigar. Hooded Justice -- ironically considering the noose motif -- was a Black man under the hood. In fact I think that's why he felt he had to retire, when a fight wrecked his hood. Alan Moore giving Americans another lesson in what bastards we can be. (Don't feel singled out; he gives the Brits a lambasting, too!) Edit: I stand corrected, at least as far as the comics are concerned. See below.

I had missed the issue 25 change to invasions of both Zombies and Rikti such that they no longer spawn if everyone in the zone is below level 25. Could we instead make it based on zone level?

Yea, it looks like issue 25 made the minimum level to spawn either zuvimbies or BEMs 25. Thanks for tracking that down, JusticeBeliever! I completely missed that item in the notes. All the other ish 25 stuff dazzled my eyes. I wonder if they could set it to be based on the level of the zone, instead? To the suggestion thread, citizens!

Not a PVPer, but very nice print! I'm curious, back on Live there was someone offering 3D sculpts, but the process was iffy and intricate. How are you handling the game-to-STL (I assume) process? And good luck with the event, I'll tell my pvping friends to check it out!

I have seen the same thing duoing with an old friend, we've been themed characters only teaming, alternating missions (both Kheldians, 1 PB and 1 WS) yet our dings are never in sync. Sometimes as much as half a level disparity I was ascribing it to the overall "Kheldian curse" but maybe there is Something Going On Here?

Weird and wonderful! Thanks for the research and write-up (it only counts if you publish)!

1. Around Issue 2, so circa 2005? 2. I played a lot before the game went "free-to-goldfarm-spam" in 2010? 11? And then intensely right before shutdown. I was devastated, it left a hole in my life like the loss of a friend. It made me realize the stark difference between real life possessions and virtual ones, though. I did also go out and reconnect with my future wife, so not all bad! 3. Shortly after I lost my wife to cancer, I discovered Homecoming. And it did indeed feel like coming home. Helped me through the grief. 4. I recreated my favorite main character, went through the tutorial, and wept like a baby when I stepped into Atlas Park and saw the other players. Then again when I heard the Steel Canyon music. Then once more when I reconnected with old friends. It was a high-humidity environment for a while. 5. I couldn't lay my hands on my original files, but I recreated all my favorites from memory, and was very glad of the new costume options. I was and am aware that everything could disappear again by another whim of NCSoft, so there is a certain tentativeness to play, and I do my best to savor every second. I'm getting to the age where all my life is like that, though, so I spend a lot of time with my fingers crossed. (Makes it hard to control my character sometimes.) 6. I tend to binge on one character at a time. I started with my namesake on Torchbearer (because that's where my friends were) and have worked my way through my favorites. Many are re-creations of characters I enjoyed playing in tabletop games during and after college. So, double nostalgia, I guess. I like playing Doctor Ditko (Ill/Rad and an Ill/Time variant) because there's something interesting to do whatever the situation. Summon pets, buff my team, debuff the bad guys -- always a way to contribute. Keeps me from getting bored. Good luck with your research, and Good Science to you!

My ignorance of MMOs other than CoH is vast and comprehensive, so: Single-player games usually offer a way to skip cutscenes, but do other MMOs? It seems like you'd be out of sync with your teammates who don't choose to skip. Besides, when else would I make sandwiches? (Romulus is the only one that gives me time to make a grilled cheese, but the others usually provide time enough for a quick PB&J.)

Even just a badge for "Did it the Hard Way" would at least yield bragging rights!

I've already confessed my perverse love of all things related to teleporting. It would be great if these guys -- named after the power -- were any good at it. (Afterthought:) What if they could use TP offensively? Give us non-PVPers a reason to not regret taking IOs with TP protection. I'd enjoy that!

Weather? What's that? We sometimes get snow...

Probably won't be noticeable for CoH, but disappointing to hear. I'm planning on sticking to Windows 10 (Edu version, I swear to Microsoft I'm under 13, and using O&O utils to hobble what 's left). But I'd be remiss in not mentioning that CoH runs very well under Linux. Dual boot is a good thing. You can even softlink your Linux install to most of the data files on a mounted Winders partition to save space. So far I have yet to see a compelling reason to switch to 11. But they had to pry 7 from my cold dead security-conscious hands.

I noticed I can TP through the windows with Combat TP, do any of the other version do that too? (Full conflict-of-interest disclosure: I love the new teleport pool. Deeply. Possibly even loverlike.)

Is it maybe time to make the unofficial Roleplaying Server... Official? Or at least flagged as the unofficial RP server? A GMOTD when logging on, a note on the server selection screen, might go a long way toward mitigating such behavior. The reasons for the commercial game not to do so are gone. And, as mentioned above, only the top ten percent (ahem!) of players visit the forums. (A little more prominence/explanation for the Roleplayer "warning flag" might help, too. At least newbies could be made aware that there are RPers in the game.) And, yes, editing your chat channels is a wise move. It can't bug you if it's happening in another tab (or no tab at all).

Another reason Steve Ditko is a madman and a personal favorite. Doctor Strange with his baggy tunic, billowing cloak, and intricate trim. Spider-man with all the webs on his costume -- not to mention in his powers. Guy was nuts! (Politically nuts late in life, but ya gotta separate the art from the artist (c.f. Neal Adams' planetology.)

Very much this! Same reason I seldom take self-anti-knockback measures: It makes me feel like I'm in a superhero fight! If only we could knock each other through walls... (Getting knocked through the occasional Tech door doesn't count; the door stays closed.)

I tried it as well, and, well I had this post-apocalyptic tech-tiger costume that has been seeking a home, so when Quantum Tiger popped up... He's my first SR/Claws tank, level 17 after an enjoyable afternoon. RNG ftw, "All Hail Diiscordia!"