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Black Talon

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Everything posted by Black Talon

  1. This is the kind of stuff I find enormously engaging to read, yet at the same time find somewhat frustrating - I keep thinking, Shouldn't we, as players and factors in Paragon City's evolution - and the elements therein - have a chance to influence the outcome with such in-process or impending events? I understand that, as an MMPOG, what applies for one character/group cannot apply for all, obviously, but still, I'd like to have the opportunity for a story-arc (Task-Force or the like) to be established that permits some kind of "We did it!" outcome, not terribly different from the excellent Striga Isle Task-Force. Perhaps something like that is already in the works (Piecemeal's rather cryptic posts seem to hint at such), and this once again indicates the enormous love the community has for this game, and the world it has engendered, and makes it worth every penny we put forward on a monthly basis to keep things running. Hoping to see more dispatches soon.
  2. Heh. Makes me think of Hotshots: Part Deux, and coming across the waist-high picket-fence gate: "Damn! It's locked from the inside!" Such a barrier would require your basic Thing/Hulk-type character to do nothing but the extensive detour in the MMPOG situation...
  3. This subject - and much appreciated on the topic introduction - is a signature point that differentiates human intuition/imagination from algorithms. There have been several situations, over the past forty years, in the games I've GMed, and played in, where a specific core-book established rule applying to a particular circumstance simply didn't exist. So we made one up, usually based on previously-established mechanics, and moved on. Such is not possible in the online games (for now and presumably the foreseeable future), and, again - as demonstrated with characters of various sizes being able/unable to pass through doorways - this is where the pen-and-paper games win out on a collaborative basis. CoH's ragdoll physics are, in many respects, total aberrations from both what we laughingly refer to as reality, and many game-established mechanics. My reply to such: So what? As long as the mechanics in place can lead to the creation of what I would call A Good Fricking Story, nothing else matters. Plus, it's consistent across the board, for characters and NPCs alike. One of my prime examples for this is, Back In The Day, one of my senior alts ended up doing an arc where Countess Crey had him framed for a capital crime, and between missions, he was attacked by various villain groups (fill-ins for authorized law enforcement), which totally strained the logic of the story and world. There was no way I could see this happening, aside from the police hiring said villain groups on as short-term mercenaries, which would have only happened (again, logically) in a full-out Rikti-style invasion. A use of the in-place algorithms to side-step other issues? Yes. Did it ultimately ruin the story? No. I wrote a note to the CoH staff afterward, congratulating them on what I felt was one of the most imaginative arcs I'd yet seen - and also providing a note that, if possible, replace the between-mission villain groups with actual police, which would have upped the intensity/realism (let's laugh at that concept a bit again) aspect. The point being: Did the story in question have limitations circumscribed by algorithms? Yes. Did those lead to illogical outcomes with some aspects of storytelling, at least with "real-life" factors? Yes. Did this impact on the final value of the story in question? No. Again, in my opinion, much of this issue - similar to my experience reading about/teaching philosophy and law - is based on internal contradictions. Are such contradictions accounted for, and, if possible, amended? This is where the pen-and-paper games are always going to hold the winning hand, in my opinion; there's every opportunity for enterprising individuals to make their own changes to the system (although these go only as far as being house-rules, true) that apply throughout their game-playing world.
  4. 3-Ring Binder, thank you for the note! I had actually been wondering about this; I was a pretty serious City of Zeroes fan back in the day, and have in fact been looking to see if there were any published collections of the work, hardcopy or digital. The series - at least as far as I've found in my admittedly limited search - has turned up pretty much nothing, This is another one of the pieces I'd love to see resurrected, and although the individual responsible for crafting such is not in communication with the Homecoming team - again, at least as far as I know - I wonder if some sort of reach-out could be made, indicating that there'd be some kind of measurable audience wanting to have a look at that work. Hoping, hoping, hoping that some kind of breakthrough can be made on the digital-to-real stuff.
  5. Was hoping to avoid this, but very, very ticked off that I was unable to make a donation; the, in my case, predictable technical issues - PayPal not recognizing me, multiple e-mail addresses coming back as unacceptable, calling up PayPal's help number and their own representatives unable to make a connection with the pledge link. Very, very ticked off that a contribution could not be made, at least in this fashion, this month; however, I am going to try to streamline things so that, come the end of July, I will be able to throw something in (matching what I was going to do today) with a little extra to compensate for lack this month. Meanwhile...all I can do is pass my greatest thanks on to those who did make it through, and ongoing appreciations to the GMs and technical support who make sure the blasted game actually stays on the air. Will be playing for the next month with much humility, and extending help to all those who need it.
  6. Thank you for the alert on that, Dazi; I was hoping to do my Thurston Howell III bit, walking in the room with the white suit jacket, black bow tie, martini in the right hand, cigar in the left and saying, "Lovey, take out my chequebook - no, the one where I can fit in two rows of zeros," but it looks like I might have some competition in that regard. However, I will still make my attempt and put the hand out for assisting the waking dream. Just a thought: Maybe have a sort of "numbered waiting list" so those who wanted to pledge but came in a bit too late will essentially be first in line next month. In any event, wonderful to know that Those In Charge essentially have to say, "Sorry, we're full," with regard to community supported items like this, rather than doing the begging-for-cash thing which I've seen happen with a couple of other projects (makes me think; there're more than a few guys panhandling for change in Kings Row. Might they have been disowned MMPOG administrators once...?). Every chance I'll see others here in line tomorrow, waiting to do our bit for the Crown. See everyone tomorrow.
  7. Okay, this is probably coming under the "real stupid" category, but one thing I've been wondering, since the online game resumed roughly two and a half years ago, is the revival of CoH publications: this includes the comics, the RPG, and especially the novels. I made a point of getting both Web of Arachnos and The Freedom Phalanx years ago, under the presumption that they (and the Top Cow comics collection) were going to form what was pretty much the last word in stories attached to Paragon City. While the population here ain't World of Warcraft at its zenith in numbers (as WoW itself now ain't WoW at its zenith), I would imagine there are a number of people, self included, who would like to see these works released, if completed, and resumed, if left half-done. I for one would be most pleased to see a comics series - regular, limited or a bit of both - coming out again, would be very happy to see the pen-and-paper RPG released, and would be hunting down any new novels in the Indigo fantasy/science-fiction area. Is this sort of thing at all on the CoH administration's radar/production screen, or should we just count ourselves damned lucky that we've got what we have and do everything we can to sustain that? Sitting here, looking at the novel covers and twiddling thumbs...
  8. All my serious thanks for this, Dazi, and I will be linking up and putting a few bucks in tomorrow. Just to make a (rather obvious) point, I really feel that it's in situations like this that you start to separate the girls and boys from the women and men; women and men in this case meaning individuals who are actually going to live up to what Mommy and Daddy taught us in terms of civic responsibility. As far as I'm concerned, that extends to ensuring that this type of arrangement ends up becoming a straight zero-sum game (and I mean that in the most positive sense), where the people responsible can look at the month's activity and say, "We came out with no capital gains, but also owing nothing - and that means we won." Such an arrangement is - again, for me - yet another exemplar of the modern sharing-economy at work. The ongoing watch-out problem with such an economy is that it's dependent entirely on the sustained good will of the participants. I cannot and will not have anything to do with anyone else's commitment in this matter, but I'm sure as hell going to make certain I can say, "I did my part." Anyway, apologies for getting on the soapbox with this, but it's fantastic to see people working together consistently (for a measurable reward, that's true) for the benefit of the community. Hope to see all on the board soon.
  9. "How cool to be a newb again." That is too fricking true to be funny, Dazi. Coming back on here, aside from knowing to how, you know, move and jump and press keys and all that stuff, I had almost no idea how the game ran. I was going on sheer buried, let's-put-the-Delco-to-this-corpse-and-start-the-sparks-flying instinct on what worked and how, and nearly lost a couple of scraps before I remembered, Oh yeah, use the Inspirations! Along with making the pause-for-the-cause donations for the administrative team, I'm also thinking about trying to find a decent super-group, just to build up on interactions, rather than turning this into a plain old stand-alone PC game. Hope to read more from recent arrivals.
  10. Felt this was the best place to comment without starting up a new thread. For what it's worth, I did learn of Homecoming considerably earlier than arseovrteakettl - back in April 2019 at first launch - but due to damned technical issues I was unable to get on to anything except the Icon server (where I could at least design/redesign alts) until yesterday. Now, at last, after NCSoft's completely inexplicable shutdown on November 30, 2012 - and I was there, in Atlas Park, with thousands of others, till the last moment - I get the chance to zoom around Paragon City, the single best MMPOG setting I have ever encountered, and start bringing 'The Boys' back to life. Again, like arseovrteakettl, I provide all my thanks to the individuals who took the time, resources, chutzpah and sheer love of Jack Emmert's vision to make this all real again. The next major personal goal to try to find out how to make donations - because, as stated, this may not be a for-profit enterprise, but that doesn't mean people have to lose money - and submit a pause for the cause, and join in with the massive and much-anticipated Pride festivities on June 26...and that's one of the major reasons I wanted to make sure I got on before that date. Again, all thanks to the crew who reassembled this dream, virtual as it may be, and looking forward to meeting up with some new friends and getting reacquainted with old ones. Great to be here. Now, to find a local ferry that goes to the Rogue Isles so I can give Lord Recluse what for. Can't be nearly as tough as they say he is...
  11. Apologies for the delay; have been away for several days. I am reaching a point of complete despair when it comes to attempting to interact with this game in its current state: no matter what, no matter how closely directions have been followed, I simply cannot access the game in its current state. I am afraid that I will have to reach out to the game's current administration, technical professionals, the board population, anyone who can direct me to the proper individuals who will be able to clear up exactly what is being done wrong/what is going wrong. The city in question is Toronto, Ontario, Canada; if there is anyone in this location, or who knows of someone in this area, who can be contacted directly for person-to-person, point-to-point guidelines on how to make this work, I would be most appreciative. Apologies for the tone, but this has been the result of seemingly endless smashing of the head against a wall that refuses to break. Hope to hear from qualified individuals soon.
  12. Coming into this considerably late, but I have absolutely no Internet or cable hookups that would have allowed me to see this back in March, and had to wait until the Blu-ray went up for retail purchase on May 27. First off, I'd have to give full disclosure and state that I saw Watchmen in the theatre twice, Man of Steel three times, Dawn of Justice four, so it's fair to say that I've got some predispositions for Zack Snyder as a director. As a comparison, I saw Joss Whedon's Justice League once, and got the Blu-ray mostly out of a desire to 'complete the set'...and I've never been able to watch it all the way through; can't even remember the last time I even tried. For myself, I think that Mr. Snyder turned Justice League up to eleven in terms of directing quality, dramatic cinematic impact and raw story, and it's a damned, damned shame that we likely won't be seeing him get back to the DCEU any time in the near future. The sole hope is that higher-ups at AT&T - and these individuals are the ones who mandated Snyder's completion of the unassembled cut, Warner Bros. wanted it burned to ash and the remains disposed of in a black hole - will see what kind of income and artistic kudos came out of this and extend the welcoming hand of return. I'd be perfectly happy to put Mr. Snyder put into a sort of overall production role for the DCEU, similar to the outright fantastic job Kevin Feige has done for the MCU, but I have a strong suspicion that Snyder wouldn't be too jazzed about that kind of position, and more to the point, he'd recognize that DC, superhero stories or not, simply has a different approach to its universe's storytelling than Marvel: where Marvel pursued a unified production vision from minute one, DC treats its characters, and their worlds, as unique entities, each with their own world that need not ever touch the others...and if they do, there's every chance it'll be strictly transactional and not have any impact that draws out past the immediate story in any significant way. And I'm okay with that - just as I'm okay with Marvel's coordinated universal vision. I only ask one thing of either, or any comics company, really: Tell us a good fricking story. Anything after that is just gravy. And as far as I'm concerned, Zack Snyder's Justice League tells us that oood story and just won't quit.
  13. Hoping that this subject runs close enough to the thread title that it's not considered hijacking: When I click the CoH icon on the desktop, the game launches, and immediately puts me into character creation; there is no server selection available. I pick the character type/s from the list and then go load the costume I've saved previously. I'm asked whether I want to go to the Tutorial or Atlas Park. Regardless of which one I pick, the character is sent to the zone starting point, which is basically like Paragon Chat except that it's completely empty. Every character that can be clicked on for dialogue/missions/etc. gives off absolutely nothing. All doors that show a hand when the cursor is placed on them give an hourglass for a few seconds when clicked, then become a hand again. Absolutely no character-specific powers are available; only Flight (numeric 1) and the torch emote (numeric 2) seem to work. No emotes on the communication box at lower left will work; only an error message is given in the dialogue box. When in character creation, clicking "Back" takes me to the login screen; I can now put the username and password in. After doing so, clicking "Log In" then takes me to the Agreement page, where I click "Accept". When this is done, "Select a Server" comes up - however. there is only one, "Unnamed", with a single green pip at the right. Clicking on this results in a significant wait while the game music plays, and then "Can't connect to DBServer" appears. Clicking "OK" here results in the sign-in page again, and inputting the password simply repeats the cycle. While simply creating, or recreating, characters and running around the empty Tutorial zone and Atlas Park can be interesting, I would like to be able to meet up with other individuals on active servers and be able to make a contribution to keeping the game running at month's end. If there is any guidance that can be given on this issue, I would very much appreciate it. As a quick note, I am using an HP laptop with Windows 10 and 476 GB capacity. The protocol is Wi-Fi 5, with a network band of 5 GHz, and a link speed (receive/transmit) of 520/520 Mbps. I would hope that this would be more than sufficient to run the game in its current state; please let me know if I'm taking any incorrect steps or missing points in how to get to the active servers. All thanks.
  14. I take special joy in the online community celebrating this sort of event; I'd like to think it encapsulates not just the LGBTQ+ crowd - although that demographic first and foremost - but everyone who finds that they've got a gift, or a heart, to contribute for all. I will put all efforts to being in place on the date specified, and again express all thanks and congratulations to those who've put this together. Hope to see everyone on the 26th.
  15. Everyone, thank you all so much for the replies and the advisories on what to/what not to eat from the Horn of Cornucopia. I do have every intention of contributing a couple bucks per month, as I think the Devs/Moderators damn well deserve it, but at present, I simply do not have the time or opportunity to act in a refereeing capacity myself; I hope that such will develop at some point in the not-too-distant future. Re the '70s Welcome Back picture...this provides some major inspiration for the creation of a new SG, the ultimate SG, and here it is: Yes, The Sweathogs! The player who brings in the most SG cash per month gets the "Vinnie Barbarino" award, while the guy/girl pulling the caboose gets "Horshack". The SG leader gets the title "Gabe" title, and has his/her own residence in the base, although SG members are expected to watch and hear everything he/she does; there will be an expectation of audience participation for the YouTube laugh-track. Okay, I've mutilated this particular bit about as far out of context as reasonably possible - maybe more than just a bit - but I really want to thank everyone for their participation on this. It has struck me that, on at least a couple boards I've been on, the higher the median age of the participants, the more polite and friendly they tend to be (at least generally). Hoping to engage on a somewhat frequent basis with the dudes/dudettes here, and pass along some of the, "You'll never believe what happened in Kings Row today..." stories. Will be cruising the different forums/threads soon, and hope to be in contact, both as a life-saving teammate and fellow conversant around the house barbeque.
  16. Everyone, It's been a decidedly unpleasant break - Nov. 30 2012 to June 5 2021 - but I am enormously pleased to be able to say "Hello" to a Paragon City that has opened its doors and streets to punks, mask-wearing thugs and arch-villains who just won't take a hint and start hitting the Hollywood studios looking for a subject promotion that gets major approval and is caught in development hell. Paragon Chat was nice, although not even having the burger places open was a bit off-putting. I am looking forward very much to facing off against no-goodniks who refuse, as a matter of principle, to recognize that mugging that girl in the Kings Row alley just ain't gonna make this month's rent payment, and the hordes of orange-jumpsuited losers in Brickstown who keep trying to imitate that breakout scene in The Dark Knight Rises. Also, as an inveterate pen-and-paper RPGer, the boys and I are going to be putting the character creator to great use when designing heroes for ICONS. All foolishness aside, I am so very happy to be back with the gang, and also wondering if there's something that can be made as a contribution - it'd have to be minor, true, but I'd still like to make the gesture - to help keep this blessed resource online. See everyone at Atlas Park soon.
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