Luminara

It's the top of a yoke (the thing you steer jets and drones with), or a racing steering wheel (butterfly/H configuration). Why would there be a toggle on a steering wheel? Nitrous oxide. Why would there be a toggle on a yoke, instead of a button? Missile arming control. It has to be flipped before the missile can be armed and fired, and unless it is flipped, the missile can't detonate if the aircraft is struck by enemy fire. Safety features are pretty important when you're capable of reducing an entire city block to rubble with one oopsie, or in a dogfight.

Did he? Do any of us truly have a choice when emotion is involved? We can choose whether or not to be magnanimous, or forgiving, or petty, we can decide to act in a specific manner in spite of our emotional state, but the underlying emotion is still there. It doesn't cease to exist because we will it... if that were the case, there would be no grief when a loved one dies, no bad marriages or messy divorces, no resentment in the work place, no familial bonds or sense of tribal unity. The world would be a much different kind of place if we could turn emotions on or off like turning a light on or off. I can't. I don't believe anyone can. We can, certainly, choose how we respond to things which affect us emotionally, but we can't choose the emotions we feel. Whatever behavior we might display externally, however logically we might choose to approach or react to any given situation, emotion is still there, and it's never truly something we can control. Recluse couldn't decide not to hate the Well for taking away his control of his life. He couldn't choose not to be angry, or resentful. Yes, he could have opted to use his "gift" for the betterment of all of humanity, but if he didn't view it as a gift, but as a curse, the Well still would've caused him to change in the same way because it's driven by what's in the heart, not in the head or the words spoken. Even if he'd become the greatest humanitarian and philanthropist in history, the Well still would've responded to what he felt, not what he did. Please note, though, that I'm speaking from the perspective of a mentally ill person. I fought, viciously, for over 40 years to control my fear of people, and never succeeded. I've pushed past my fear, I've sidestepped and ignored it, but I've never once been able to make it stop existing, for a single second. My emotional state is no more under my control than the wind or tides. I've learned to accept that and live with it, but that still doesn't give me control of my emotions, and all of the mature behaviors and responses in the world don't change my underlying emotional state. I can smile when I meet someone, but that doesn't mean I'm not screaming in terror inside. And my understanding of Recluse comes from that, my own inability to control the emotions that I feel. I am... flawed, as a human being, as a person, and that affects how I see the world and other people. So I could be wrong. If the rest of you do have the capacity to alter your emotional state on a whim, my take on Recluse is clearly way off. I don't believe that's the case, though. There's far too much empirical evidence that emotion isn't something anyone can control, in any way. We're all at the mercy of our hearts. We can behave like adults in spite of what we feel, but we still feel it. Recluse felt resentment, hatred, rage at being bound to the Well. Choosing to put on tights and a cape and stop muggings wouldn't have changed his progression into a hideous monstrosity, because the Well was in his heart, where the darkness was, and responded to that.

So many times. So many. I'd think, hey, I've never tried this power, or tried slotting in this way on this character, and spend everything rebuilding around the idea, then *FREEM!*, disappointment. The power I was interested in wasn't what I wanted. The slots I shuffled around turned out to be unimpressive, or worse, caused problems I didn't foresee. I respeced my Kin/Elec melee-only defender until I ran completely out of respecs (back before they could be crafted), trying different things with no appreciable improvement. My TA/Dark went through more respecs than I could count before I settled on one build. I even did it recently, on a Widow, trying out different combinations of powers. It took four respecs on her, plus using the secondary build, before I settled for something. I've been poking and prodding Mids' for over a week, trying to decide exactly what I want, and still think, "It could be better". I already know I'm going to use at least one respec, to replace a power, and potentially another later to test a power, and one after that if the test power doesn't meet my expectations, to test yet another power... it could turn ugly after that. But... this is the sort of thing I enjoy. It's the kind of puzzle that interests me. It's relaxing to comb through powers and slots and enhancements, changing this, moving that, seeing how each alteration modifies the whole build. It's worth the risk of disappointment, or having to burn/buy extra respecs to discover whether my hunches and hopes pay off. It's one of the reasons I kept looking for Co* after it went under, it's one of the reasons I bought a laptop to play it now that it's back, it's one of the reasons I'll probably be here until these servers are shut off.

NO PENSION FOR YOU.

All of this sounds suspiciously like a metaphoric reference to slicing up that deep dish pizza, with it's thick, crunchy, golden brown crust and piles of toppings, and then distributing it to everyone except me and pretending there was no pizza in the first place. Don't toy with my emotions like that.

That's a lot of words to describe Tuesday.

Porn.

The same reason Cryptic and Paragon kept their mouths shut when they were working on updates. If they say they're working on something, and it doesn't pan out, they've got a bunch of angry people calling them liars, thieves, assholes, etc. If they don't know that they can produce what they're trying to achieve, it's best, for everyone, if they don't say anything at all. No-one can be upset about not getting X if no-one knows X is being worked on, or throw a fit because X is being worked on instead of Y, and no-one can accuse them of breaking their word if they never promise to deliver the impossible. And since they aren't Cryptic or Paragon, with the resources of successful game sales and a large publishing company behind them, they're limited to working on things between their regular jobs, in lieu of spending time with their spouses and children, without compensation, dealing with a 15 year old engine without documentation or direction, and while attempting to maintain a low profile so NCSoft doesn't decide they're becoming a threat and break off negotiations, all of which means they not only don't have the time to blitz content and dump it on the servers, they can't attract anything resembling a staff to speed up the work. Telling anyone what's coming would be premature, because they don't have enough people to do it quickly, or even to ensure that they can do it at all. They're doing the best that they can, as quickly as they can, and when they're sure they can deliver, they'll say something. As difficult as it is to be patient, in this case, it's all you can do. They're all still here, they're still working, they'll deliver what they can when they can. That's really all any of us have any right to expect from them, considering the circumstances.

My hat's off to you, @DougGraves. Stepping outside of our comfort zones is a really hard thing to do, and it's really comfortable to let other people call the shots. I can't do it. I can't even make myself join a team. These forums constitute the extent of my capability to socially integrate. I applaud your courage.

I took Antianeira to Faultline this morning. I'd been looking forward to that since I restarted her, doubly so because my refusal to run the newer arcs has led to a dearth of actual content. My contacts don't want to talk to me. Or, they want me to go to Perez Park, or Boomtown, or street sweep in another zone. Since I'm not doing that, they won't introduce me to other contacts, so it's been mostly radio missions. Having the guarantee of Faultline's arcs is really one of the better improvements made before the game went under. But that's just appreciation for their availability, it's not why I enjoy them. I hurried through Jimmy's dialogue and rushed to the first mission door, popped in, and was immediately distracted by a ruckus behind me. Jessica, my cat, was chasing a moth. Eyes huge, ears perked, leaping and bouncing, almost frantic to catch it. Which she did. And ate it. Back to "serious" matters. I'm plinking away at Lost, smirking a bit because I'm at level 17 now, which means those asshat lieutenants can't stun me, and I see dialogue in the chat window. It's Fusionette! And behind me, Jessica has leapt into the air, spun 180 degrees, landed in perfect Halloween cat pose and is waiting for me to chase her. This is her "bring it!" behavior. She loves being chased as much as she loves chasing. Of course, I stand up and begin the fun with Jessica. My cat's happiness comes first, in all respects, and if she wants to play when I'm trying to grind out a little more XP after having slept until the ungodly hour of 5 a.m., then I'm playing with my cat. It doesn't take long, anyway. She's young, and has an appropriately youthful attention span. I finally make my way to Fusionette and "rescue" her, and rather than lead her to the exit, proceed further into the warehouse. Hey, free temporary pet, might as well make use of it. Also, I forgot I was supposed to lead her out until I cleared the rest of the map. >.> Every spawn we reach, Fusionette goes berserk. Completely spastic. "SOMETHING MOVED! KILL IT! KILL IT SOME MORE! SOMETHING ELSE MOVED! KILL THAT TOO! AAAAAHHHH!" Simultaneously, Jessica is spazzing out behind me, then under me, then next to me. For about 10 minutes, I had complete chaos on-screen and off. Fusionette flipping out every time another kernel in the Jiffy Pop in her skull went off, Jessica climbing the wall and jumping back down onto the love seat, then attacking the jacket I was wearing because my breathing caused it to shift slightly. And I knew, then. That's why I love encountering Fusionette in missions. She's completely crazy, in the most fun kind of way. I like the way she behaves. I like the way she fights. The knockback doesn't bother me, it amuses me. She's not stolid and boring like Illusion Control's Phantasm, even though that's what she should be. She should be just a Phantasm with some dialogue, but she isn't. She reacts, and acts, seemingly far more quickly and determinedly than the Phantasm does, and there's almost a sense of glee in her wild use of her powers, like she's just been waiting for the chance. She's vibrant, dynamic, almost like a... Cat. It's like playing with a young cat, for whom the entire world is a toy and playing is the most important thing in existence. Fusionette is a cat. Awesome.

Eh. I made a perfect Top Gear reference in the "oldest player" thread, only one person picked up on it. I do it for my own amusement, so it's fine. 🙂

Gary? Gary! Gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaary! GARY! Gary? Gary Gary Gary? Gaaaaaaaaary. Gary!

@Jimmy already confirmed that Page 6 is a deep dish pizza. OMNOMNOMNOMNOMNOM!

Eh. Big hair ranged from the early 80's to the late 90's (though the roots (pun!) go back to the 50's and 60's) for women. Some of the original grunge bands were fronted by people with hair as poofy as Bananarama's or The Bangles' girls, but they typically looked more like homeless people than rock stars. Long hair was definitely in on men, but not big (teased). Men with teased hair were around, too, but it wasn't a Gen X affectation, it was the hair metal and pop culture that grew out of 80's pop and early metal. Grunge reflects Gen X more accurately. Long, lanky hair, not teased, beanies (ski caps) sometimes, but not mandatory (good way to succumb to heat stroke in the wrong climate). Flannel wasn't prevalent as a fashion choice until grunge spread, though, so early to mid 90's is when that started. Jeans and leather jackets to complete the ensemble (jean jackets were out, those were an 80's fashion. same with the Michael Jackson zip-up leather jackets, too 80's for Gen X). Boots if you were serious about the look, preferably hiking, combat or Docs, as long as they looked used. If anything worn looked like it hadn't been folded, hung or ironed, that was a plus. Actually being dirty wasn't. Clean, but reflecting an appearance of nonchalance, of preferring to feel comfortable over presentable.

This is why Shepard Book didn't want to discuss his past with Mal.

It would work. Everything necessary is there, just has to be used in that way. It would involve creating a lot of mission content (a lot (really, a lot, because what we're talking about here is branching content, so one mission leads to two, leads to four, leads to eight, and so on)), linking the content to contacts, flagging the content and contacts to only display the mission content as available if or when the player achieves specific milestones, etc. The tools are there, the content isn't. Given sufficient time, it can be done.

It's not a question of actually cheating, being dishonest in some fashion, but instead, ignoring certain archetype stipulations laid down by the original development team. The specific point here being "squishies shouldn't have status protection, they should rely on their debuffs, status effects of their own, and/or teammates to deal with that" is a rule, and using P2W buffs to sidestep that rule could be considered cheating by the strictest interpretation of the original vision behind the game. The issue becomes quite a bit murkier when one notes that the rule gradually decayed over the life of the game on the original servers, with status protection being added to *PPs, then a power pool, then Incarnate abilities, then, appallingly, as a paid/gacha option. The vision changed, the options expanded. Bill was promoting a discussion revolving around whether or not the current version of the game, with the paid-for status protection being free for all to use, could be considered unfair, and if so, why. For my part, in response to the topic of the thread, I believe status effects were grossly abused and too widely disseminated among critters by the developers, and the archetypal restrictions poorly followed and unfairly enforced as a means of artificially inflating the value of status protection. It created a massive disparity in which sets were considered valuable and which weren't, it forced players to jump through hoops simply to enjoy the game and it ate into development time and resources when the developers addressed issues as they arose (like having to rework status protection inspirations, rework Defiance, create new status protection powers, etc.). If they had gone one of a hundred other ways with status effects, they could've avoided all of the wasted time, and wouldn't have sunk to the despicable act of cashing in on players' dislike of being mezzed by creating a paid-for/gacha buff. They fucked up. And using the paid-for buff now, for free, isn't cheating, it's addressing an oversight in the design of the game, that being an over-reliance on status effects which make the experience of playing less enjoyable. Also, I don't use it. The old standby of keeping a few Break Free inspirations on hand still works well enough, and after years of playing Trick Arrows characters, I've learned how to avoid being mezzed in most situations. I also rarely remember that there IS a P2W vendor... but it's nice to know that the option is there if I do remember.

That's actually a very good idea. These mechanics should be on a diminishing returns scale, rather than capped or floored. It would create a less frustrating experience, and reduce the reliance on specific powers to achieve build goals.

CoH was my first experience with achievement rewards. Specifically, badges. And initially, I considered them a fantastic idea, but I have to admit that it was only because I misunderstood the purpose of badges. When I looked at the badges available for me to try to obtain, I had the impression that they were giving me a direction. Defeat X of these, but make certain that Y of the X are bosses. In other words, I thought the badges were teaching me what to look out for in the game. Which critters should be focused on, which enemies were of particular note, things of that nature. I realized later that I was wrong. Badges don't actually teach anyone anything, they simply provide another "get" motivation, or, as the narrator of the video stated, extrinsic reward. But... I really believe badges could be redesigned as teaching tools, in exactly the way I thought they worked fifteen years ago. Obviously, people would still collect badges, still pursue that extrinsic reward, but newer players could learn from them, develop a broader and more applicable experience throughout the leveling process and become better prepared for each increase in level or shift to different zones. But what do we do when newer players have collected their "L2P" badges? They're no longer teaching tools, they've returned to being extrinsic rewards. One possibility is a series of dynamically assigned badges, based on the player's progress, which foes he/she tends to fight more, which powers he/she prefers to use and other criteria could be implemented, creating a more fulfilling and longer lasting educational system for the game. These badges could unlock progress on other badges, nudging players toward other goals by suggesting where they might want go for missions, which enemy groups they might try next, perhaps even badges for using certain powers in certain sequences or combinations (especially applicable to power sets with combos and forms), to help these players learn how different mechanics function and can be used to their advantage. By shifting the focus of badges away from mindless accumulation and toward education and enabling the player to grow and become more proficient, we can remove one of the extrinsic reward factors which leads to players feeling that they've completed the game and decide to move on. - Another thought is that, for many of us who are old hands at Co*, playing the game really is the only reward we need. Take away all of the XP, drops, badges, everything, and many of us would still be here. Why? That answer will vary from person to person, but at the heart of it, it's simply because the game is most rewarding to us when it allows us to express ourselves creatively. I play almost exclusively without travel powers. I don't do it because I'm tight on power selections, or because I don't have enough slots to spread around, or even to be the quirky weirdo on the forums. I do it because it's rewarding to poke and prod the mechanics until the game is giving me what I want. I do it because, despite having to work harder to achieve the goal of being comparable to a character without a self-imposed restriction, the end result feels rewarding. And it's not only rewarding to achieve, it's rewarding to continue playing after reaching "the end". The same applies to my latest build, which I talk about in the thread I started a couple of days ago. I have specific goals with this character. Some of those goals could be achieved one way or another, but to achieve them all, I have one path. I've built and rebuilt it in Mids' until every power, every slot, every enhancement, is so perfectly balanced that any change, no matter how seemingly innocuous, has a drastic impact. It's perfect... for me. And that's exactly what keeps me playing. I don't care about what I can do with it later. I don't care about soloing AVs or TFs or pylons. I care about achieving my goal of making exactly the character I envisioned, having that character work exactly as I imagine she will. This is an intrinsic goal, one we all share, and I believe it's the one that keeps all of us here. But can we improve that, so more people share that feeling and experience and discover that they're also still here years later? One way we might accomplish that is to change the *PP selection process, by making it partially free-form. Not completely, but enough to enable players to devise personal goals and be capable of achieving them. We can't redesign the entire engine for free-form power selection, that's simply too big to accomplish. But *PPs are a much more limited scenario, and, in fact, almost all of the code necessary to make this possible already exists. Players can choose from up to 4 standard pools. The newer pools, Experimentation, Sorcery, etc., have a special restriction on them locking out the other newer pools when one is selected. We can take these standard and newer pool options and apply them to *PPs, thereby granting access to more than one *PP for players to choose from when they reach level 35. It will enable players to select two or three *PPs based on how they fulfill their personal goals, rather than limiting them to one *PP and forcing them to accept that there are going to be some powers they don't want, couldn't use or simply can't take because they don't fit the character they've created. Instead of taking a *PP based on one power, or settling on a *PP simply because it has the fewest objectionable options, players could mix and match to better meet their own goals. It becomes an intrinsic reward, rather than an end goal, by making the game better at fulfilling players' expectations and personal goals. Some limits would still need to exist, obviously. We don't want to completely throw the concept of balance out of the window by allowing players to take 5 high damage AoEs, 5 AoE controls, or what have you. But simply having the option to choose from more than one *PP would open up worlds of personal goals by providing a better character creation and completion process, thus potentially increasing retention and satisfaction.

That is good.

Huh. This one's brain is encrypted. We can quack it.

It's been a decade since they changed toggle drop mechanics, but if I recall, the rule should be that if your toggle affects enemies, it drops, but if it only affects you and/or your teammates, it only suppresses. Also, Shield Defense doesn't have toggle status protection. It has to be clicked or set to auto (hold the Control key and click it).

You take over the world your way, I'll do it the adorable way. Also, my requisition for punctuation was refused by the Punctuation Ration Board, so I had to design the weapon without punctuation. So thanks for that, everyone who throws unnecessary apostrophes into words. I'm sending the commandos after you first.

That comes after I finish the Waddle Bomb. But by then, my Quack Commando Team will have located you and delivered a fatal dose of Tail Wiggle (guaranteed to cause squeeing, and possibly cardiac arrest from sheer delight), so you WON'T BE AROUND TO SEE IT! ... Shit. I monologued. *facepalm*

Oh, no. Uh uh. No way. I will NOT start monologuing in the middle of the plan. I'VE SEEN THE MOTION PICTURES, I KNOW WHAT HAPPENS!