Ultimo

The system I suggested was that they make use of our @handle as part of the name to make it unique. So, my character "Ultimo" would actually be "Ultimo@Ultimo1" though you wouldn't see the @Ultimo1 part. This would allow someone else to use the name "Ultimo" if they so chose, since it would actually be "Ultimo@someoneelse" as far as the surfer is concerned. Lots of other games use this system, including Champions Online, Star Trek Online, Elder Scrolls Online, and so on. I'm no programmer, but I don't see why this couldn't be done here.

Tim Horton's.

I've not been playing the AT very long, and not to significant level, but I'm not really seeing much benefit from the Opportunity inherent. I'm not sure what I'd change it to, but it doesn't seem to be doing much for me. The other thing I would have liked is to be able to use the Assault power sets from the Dominator. My current main, Ultimo, was conceived as a kind of mutant Iron Man (armoured, with great strength and blasts). In the old days I made him a Blaster, so he had the strength (melee attacks) and ranged blasts, but no defense. The Sentinel has the defense (Invulnerability) and the blasts, but no melee. The Assault sets (Energy Assault, in this case) would have given him all three aspects, Armour, Blasts and Punches. So, if there was going to be any changes, these are the things I might change.

Ya, that might be more effective, but the character is all telepathy, no telekinesis.

I'm not seeing much difference. SOMETIMES the Mez will work, but most of the time it won't (I mean against these specific foes, they're both effective against normal ones).

So, I've been tinkering, trying to come up with the best way to build a character. He's a pure telepath, able to read and control minds and thoughts. Think Professor X. He's blind, and can "see" by constantly taking visual information from the minds of everyone around him. Anyway, the issue I'm having is I can't decide whether he's better off being a Dominator or a Controller. Initially, I made him a Dominator, as this gives him access to two Psychic sets, Mind Control and Psychic Assault. However, I kept coming up against foes that were immune (or nearly so) to his controls, such as the Arachnos Lieutenants in Manticore's mansion (Twinshot's questline). When faced with such foes, he was completely defenseless, as his only defense is his ability to HOLD his enemy. If he can't do that, he's just dead. So, I recreated him as a Controller, using Mind Control and Empathy, figuring the Empathy set is about emotional control or some such. It can be rationalized. I figured that when facing foes capable of ignoring the holds, I'd at least have access to a heal I could use to defend myself with. Right away, I noticed the Controller was doing a LOT more damage to the various street thugs in Atlas. The Dominator would take 4-6 attacks to take down a white minion. The Controller would do it in 2. So, I was kind of liking that I seemed to have some decent offense and some potential defense (healing). Finally, I got to Twinshot's missions, and once more faced those Arachnos Lieutenants. As with the Dominator, they ignored the holds. However, the healing the Controller was doing was so trivial compared to the damage he was taking, that he wasn't doing any better than the Dominator. More, his damage was actually worse. It seems that the Controller does double damage to held foes (?), but less base damage when they're not. Is this true? For example, the Dominator might hit a foe for 11 damage. The Controller would hit him for 9. The Dominator would hit him again for 11, but this time the Controller would hit for 9 damage, but TWICE. Does this sound correct? In any case, I'm feeling kind of stuck. Neither one seems to be capable of defending themselves against foes they can't hold. Am I missing something? What do you all suggest?

I did try adding "Great" in there, (Great Canadian Shield), but there's not enough spaces. Doesn't fit. Playing with the spaces doesn't work either, it automatically deletes any extras. As I say, I'll just have to live in hope that someday they'll make it possible to get the name.

I'm only recently arrived, but I'll put in my 2 inf. Old problems with the game that were always an issue. Endurance management is REALLY onerous and frustrating. Really, it's what drove me from the original game, because I felt I was fighting my own powers more than I was fighting the bad guys. I'm finding accuracy to be an issue now, but my characters are still low level, below 10 in most cases. I expect this will improve, but something to help lowbies might be nice. Finally, NAMES. The real, significant problem to me is the inability to name my characters as I'd like. Some system to allow us to use whatever name we want (excluding copyrighted stuff...) would be VERY welcome.

Well, I've been playing him as "The.Canadian Shield" for a bit now... and it's just really frustrating and annoying. NPCs say his name with the additional "The." in it, and it just reads very strange and awkward. So, I went back to try and rename him again. I tried: CanadianShield -Canadian Shield Canadian Shield- -Canadian Shield- Canadian-Shield -Canadian-Shield- I repeated these all with periods, then each one with multiple periods. I suspect the game reads such names simply as "Canadian Shield" and ignores the extra punctuation marks, rendering them all useless. The game won't let me use brackets or other symbols. I tried using unicode characters, but the game doesn't recognize any of them. So, with nothing left, I went back to the French spelling, "Canadien Shield" knowing the game would allow it. I was reluctant, because to my eye it just looks like I spelled it incorrectly. I mean, I know it's not an error, but it LOOKS like one. But, what choice have I got? So, into Atlas I went, where within 2 minutes I'd received several PMs that I'd spelled my name wrong, my worst fear realized. I'm a bit OCD about my spelling, so this was like being stabbed in the eye with a fork over and over. So, I feel stuck, frustrated and maddened. This character was my main back in the day, and I really wanted to play him again... but I just can't, not like this. I don't see any other option. All I can hope for, is that the... Devs (?) not sure what to call them... the folks in charge will understand the problem, and come up with some kind of solution that will allow me to come back to my character. I've suggested using the @handle as an "invisible" append to the character name, making it possible for several Canadian Shields to exist (mine would read as "Canadian Shield," but would actually be read by the server as "Canadian Shield@Ultimo1"), but there seems to be some resistance to that idea. Hopefully they can do SOMETHING to help. In the meantime, I have other characters. The Canadian Shield will just have to stay retired for now, alas.

Ya, I'd never heard of Marvel's Ultimo, and mine really bears no resemblance... But then, I never published anything, I just made the comics for my own amusement. Personally, I think mine is cooler and better looking.

I appreciate some of the suggestions, but in my case there's not really anything I can do to alter the names of some of my characters. The reason is they're characters that I created decades ago, when I was making my own comics. Ultimo, for example, wouldn't be ULTIMO if he wasn't using the name he's had for 45 years. In the case of the Canadian Shield, his name is a play on words, a reference to the rocky lands in northern Ontario, called the Canadian shield. Changing his name would eradicate that play on words. I could cite other examples. My goal here isn't just to get my own names to use. I'm considering everyone else, too. I'm sure I'm not the only one who has had to resort to absurd spellings, wierd symbols and other such nonsense because we can't get a name we're attached to for whatever reason. I think it would be nice if we could resolve this dilemma, because I'm sure it affects a lot of us. In any case, I've made my suggestion. I think it would work, if there's a way program it. I'm not a programmer, so I don't know what's possible here, but it SEEMS doable, based on what little I know. I understand the objections, but I've seen this system work in other games, Champions Online, Star Trek Online, Elder Scrolls Online and others. I've never seen any impersonation, because it is always possible to call up the @handle for any given character. However, if this isn't a viable solution, perhaps we can come up with an alternative suggestion.

Could you elaborate on why you don't like the Champions method? It seems to me we already have the @handle, so it wouldn't mean adding THAT... and it WOULD let everyone have whatever name they want for their characters.

I don't know if it's been suggested before, or if it's even possible, but I'm finding it VERY difficult to name my characters. In some cases, it's a matter of wanting to use a name I'd used back in the old days, such as my tanker (and main) the Canadian Shield. That name is simply not available on any server. In other cases, it's just a matter of trying to find a name that fits the concept of the character. For example, I'm trying to find a name for my Batman-themed character, and simply cannot find a name that isn't unavailable. I've tried Crusadar, Nightshade, Night-Shade, Night Shade, on and on and on. I remember this being an issue for the original game under NCSoft, and they never did anything about it except occasional name purges. However, name purges might not be ideal in this case, because being free to play here, there's no telling when players might come back after lengthy absence. So, my suggestion is to do something like what Champions Online did. We all have chat handles. Mine is @Ultimo1. The way Champions did it was to append that handle to the end of the character's name. So, the Canadian Shield would actually be Canadian Shield@Ultimo1 (though, you wouldn't see the @Ultimo1 part). This would allow multiple players to use the same name. Either way, I think this is an issue that needs to be looked into. Thanks.

Seems to be back up, logging in now.

Yep, same here. Been disconnected for about 40 minutes now.

Tried the French spelling. Didn't like it. What I ended up doing was putting the word "The" in front, but the game kept deleting it. So, I put a period after "The" and recreated him as "The.Canadian Shield". It's not ideal, but it's adequate. Now I'm debating whether to recreate him as a Tanker (which is what he was originally) or a Brute. I know the Tanker is sturdier, and the Brute does more damage... but how is the Brute's defense? Any thoughts?

An interesting idea... Though, it still wouldn't feel quite "right," if you know what I mean. I mean, if my name was Peter, it would feel strange if people called me Pierre. However, I suppose I could try changing the spelling to "Canadien," the French...

Tried that too. In fact, I did exactly that thing and was able to create him... but on the lowest population server. I kind of prefer more populated servers, which I why I started out on Excelsior (RIP Stan), but any port in a storm. I'm debating whether to move the other characters there with him...

Ya, I'm sure I could finagle something... it just wouldn't feel right. Glad to be back, already got two characters back in the game. See you all out there!

So, I only just discovered the existence of Homecoming, and I quickly joined up! So... GREETINGS! Ultimo will once more take to the skies, handing out justice to the unjust. Alas, that I can't recreate my original main character though, the Canadian Shield. The name is apparently already taken on all servers, alas. No matter, I'll be seeing you all in Paragon City! Again!