SupaFreak

The only dumb question IMO is one not asked. It's how you learn the ins and outs of the game. 😎' I think you got some good advice here from the others and the only thing I can add is... take your time and learn the Archetype and don't sweat the end game yet. MMs are my favorite AT. Ask questions. If you like keybinds and macros, look into them. If that's not your bag... you can do just as well with what the game provides. I have 1 of each Primary at 50 and they all play uniquely different in some capacity and the Secondary you chose plays into that. Get yourself into tough situations from time to time solo. The stress of balancing commands and knowing the enemies teaches you things you miss out on learning in a team setting for when you do get in team settings. I frequently use "All Attack My Target" whether in Defense or Aggressive then let them default afterwards for a bit to Def or Agg before issuing that command again for a different target. And I also tend to send 3 "Groups" of my pets on certain targets less frequently - but still do. Such as "All Wolves on Sorcerer" - "All Lioness on other Sorcerer" - "Dire Wolf on Boss". Tactics to me is as important as a good build... or a build that suits you.

Yea, I have a 50 Beast/Storm Mastermind and he's by far the favorite of the 7 MMs I've created. I would rank the damage output pretty high - I'd say 8.5 / 10. My personal build has good control but weak on heals for the pack. I do what I can with Fortify Pack (regen) + Destiny: Rebirth but 2-3 of the wolves tend to bite the dust frequently.

I have a feeling what that's related to. It's hilarious to me the way it was pulled off.

Can’t speak for anyone else, but for me it’s about the population there and the infrequency of teams. I am an action junkie, barely ever delving into the story of it all so that’s not a factor for me. I actually prefer the atmosphere over there because I am personally gritty and abrasive so it matches my personality - plus the heavy metal type music in most areas - but yea, I enjoy teams so it boils down to where the teams are for me.

Oh, I was on their website daily giving them hell with the rest of the crowd after the Sunset announcement... But as time went on and I got time to reflect and put myself in their shoes... I understand from a business point why they sunset the game even if it were making a small profit. Paragon Studios, like it or not, was continuing to drop the ball with the big releases from a business standpoint: April 8, 2009: Mission Architect ---> Newcomers came along hoping to create stories others would play, farmers exposed a massive flaw in their design, stories took the backseat and so those newcomers likely left disappointed. August,17, 2010: Going Rogue ---> Newcomers were given a third starting experience in new the low level zones of Praetoria, likely left disappointed by low population of their Praetorian experience never reaching level 20. September 27, 2011: Freedom ---> Any previous newcomers that tried it again would find they did nothing to remedy the past errors and likely didn't stick around long. I base what I say about newcomers coming and going because I did team and interact with a few and heard their complaints. Their global friends names were never around long afterwards. I can only imagine it was widespread and the general consensus of the newcomers. I guess NCSoft thought it was better to just shut it down than try and find a team to replace Paragon Studios. And honestly, PO'd and heartbroken as I was - I can't say I blame them. The job of Paragon Studios was to grow and expand the population base, not stagnate it. If Mission Architect & Going Rogue were done correctly, I would venture to say the City of Heroes: Sunset edition would've never happened.

Not sure if someone here was, but I never was suggesting a change. This is just a poll and discussion about preference, that's all. Trying to figure out the popularity of each view. Whether or not that would lead to a suggestion by someone in the future is just an end result of the discussion.

On that part, I agree. Makes me wonder if they're trying to factor in all the private servers... which I still don't think is that number. But if we're beating and continue to beat the other superhero MMOs & Aion on daily subscribers... it's something to take note of.

Just stumbled upon this this evening: Most Popular MMOs Server Population & Player Count - MMO Populations (mmo-population.com) City of Heroes #51? Beating out the likes of Ultima Online, D&D Online, Champions Online, DCU Online and even Aion (by NCSoft)? Can't be true, can it? *checks Aion's daily numbers* Aion Active Player Count & Population (mmostats.com) Avg 1,9k daily? We're currently at 3.4k as of typing this. If this is indeed true... NCSoft has got to be paying attention.

It wasn’t my intent to get keybind users against non-keybind users here, but seems it’s becoming that way. I’m not easy to offend so you’re not bothering me that I am lazy and would prefer no keybind for targeting radar or at least the option in customization to not have the radar. So I guess this discussion is becoming should we have the option to not have the targeting radar so that both sides are happy?

Same here, but the same end result could be achieved through alternate methods such as +1 Reward Merit per Vanguard Story Arcs, allowing Rikti EBs to have a 2% chance of awarding 1 Reward Merit, etc. Someone in the past suggested something along the lines of adding a the ability to craft a Unique Enhancement set, etc. Thinking something along those lines in addition to the semi-popular Heavy pet.

It's been nearly 38 (?) full months since Page 1 was released and Page 7. I don't know if I can say all the updates within exactly feel "thematic" in any real sense of the word as much as the Live Server issues did. I do like the term Pages though for a thematic setting if we were to get an update roughly 30-50% the size of Page 7 was with the rest dripping over the course of following year. For example with Page 7 here: Issue 33: A Shift in Power Page 1 - Striga Island Co-Op + Piecemeal Personal Story + Epic Pool updates + Council & Circle upgrades 3-4 months later Page 2 - Lady Grey Advanced Mode + Vanguard Base Expansion + various Power Balancing + Bug Fixes 3-4 months later Page 3 - Arsenal Control + Arsenal Assault + Costume Updates + VEAT Updates + Bug Fixes 3-4 months later Page 4 - Giant Monsters Update + Prismatic Rewards + Role Diversity + Base Updates + Bug Fixes *added* Don't quote me on this but I do believe the Dev Team said it's problematic or something for small updates or something along those lines. Unless someone can locate where something along those lines were said... then quote me on this.

Back on Live, I went to 50 as slow as I could on all my main 5 characters - experiencing as much of the contacts as I could. Nowadays though - it's zoom to 50 as fast as I can and Ouro any content I want to relive again. I'll always check out the new content Homecoming team puts out though. *added* Note that I prefer not to engage in A/E farming though. I still do official content to level quickly. TFs, Radios, Dark Astoria missions, etc.

Try it on Brainstorm or make a Temporal Warrior PvP real quick and try it sometime. I love it.

Hello Developers! It has indeed been rather exciting playing Homecoming in the recent weeks. As someone who has been here since day one, the influx of new and returning players gives me hope that a number of them will stick around and help Homecoming's popularity grow and be able to maintain its appeal. The population boom has provided me with the opportunity to team with and help both new and returning players to the game and hear what they think about certain aspects of the game. While I'm not sure what the success or failures of Homecoming's appeal means to the longevity of the recent license agreement, I'm sure NCSoft is at least paying some attention in some capacity. Live Server Failures My opinion on why (behind closed doors) NCSoft truly decided to shut down the live servers was primarily due to the shortcomings of the Going Rogue expansion and its inability to grow and maintain its subscriber base. While the zones of Praetoria were beautiful to look at and the morality choice arcs were a breath of fresh air, a third starting experience was overall a horrible idea. The Praetorian zones were desolate and teaming there was minimal at best, making newcomers feel isolated from the vast population of an MMO game. Not exactly a recipe for success. The Freedom update was beginning to be a step back in the right direction, but it still wasn't enough to overcome the past mistakes. Homecoming Updates While I and likely others would prefer to see smaller and more frequent updates closer to three or four times a year, I will say this... I honestly do feel the development team has not made a single misstep yet on content added. From the addition and refining of the Sentinel to making Tankers and Brutes roles more unique to improving the underplayed primaries and secondaries, you show you care about the meat and potatoes of the game - the character. And Issue 27 (page 7) has a little bit of something for everyone. From character customization to vanity pets to Co-Op Striga to Advanced Mode Lady Grey... there's a little something for everyone. I may not personally be excited about every aspect of it, but it's not about me. It's about the community and the success of Homecoming. However, there is one aspect of Page 7 that gives me hope that Homecoming is willing to do something other MMOs do not... give some love to outdated aspects of the game. What do I mean by that? Why, I'm talkin' 'bout Giant Monsters and them rewarding 1-3 Unstable Aether. The Reward Merits were a nice carrot-on-a-stick but this is icing on the carrot (that is a thing, right?). The ability to either trade 10 in for a vanity pet OR trade 3 for a Prismatic Aether? Now that is a smart move. What makes it a smart move in my opinion is that it takes an older aspect of the game and gives it added meaning and appeal to a larger crowd that is likely to last a long, long time. See, I come from the mindset that every single aspect of an MMO has to have continuing value and/or appeal on some level and not just be "one and done". Badges may appeal to some, but to players like me... if it doesn't give me some way to monetize or enhance my characters stats or abilities in some way... it's a hard pass. Shallow as that may be, I'm not here to chew gum - I'm here to... Anyways... Forging Ahead I do hope the Homecoming team takes note of the comment about existing and less desirable content, because it IS a possible factor to new and returning players. When I'm explaining some aspect of the game to either one of them and the Q&A goes something like this: Q: "What is X used for?" A: "Those are pretty useless." Q: "Why isn't anyone ever doing X?" A: "Most already have the badge and it doesn't have any rewards." And their response is "Oh", I get the sinking feeling they know subconsciously that there's a bottleneck in the design of the game and they're about to step onto a treadmill of limited content. NOT a recipe for success, in my opinion. What I hope for the future of Homecoming is for the Q&A to be more like this: Q: "What do I do with these X things?" A: "There's really nothing useless in the game and those are good for X, no matter what level you are." Q: "Why are there level 50s doing X?" A: "People do that over again because it rewards X buff for the next 4 hours of gameplay (for example) on top of getting a badge the first time, which is really nice". Whether it was the original or Homecoming developers, someone put time and effort into creating some fun content that gets massively overshadowed because it's a "one and done" deal. I'd personally like to see that change for the betterment of the game. The tendency of MMOs to pump out "one and done content" over "one and done content" is an easy trap to fall into and a major reason why they fail to maintain an audience. Players consume new content faster than it can be pumped out and tend to be left looking for something to hold them over until the next dinner plate of "one and done content" is served. Sometimes the game provides enough sustenance to keep their gaming bellies happy, but I'd say most times not. In Closing I'm super proud of Homecoming for achieving the license agreement with NCSoft. That was both ground-breaking and legendary! I also want to acknowledge and applaud NCSoft for their massive display of humility and generosity for extending the olive branch to us players who gave them hell during the sunset of 2012. You have my admiration and gratitude for that, NCSoft. I'm very much looking forward to the additions of Victory + Paragon servers(?) and what the additional "hands-on-deck"(?) means for the future of Homecoming's longevity and success. I may not frequent the forums that much, but would love to see what I perceive to be underperforming or under-utilized aspects of the game addressed in the near future: Vanguard Merits Brainstorm Ideas Safeguard & Mayhem Missions Tip Missions A/E Dev's Choice Zone Events Praetorian Zones (x5) Kallisti Wharf I may have my ideas on what needs done about them, you may have yours - and maybe it's nothing at all. I suppose the subject of that debate is best suited for elsewhere, such as the Suggestions & Ideas section of the forums. I honestly just wrote this letter as personal "thank you" to you all with some feedback for the Homecoming team to chew on, for this game has brought me so much joy in my life. From Beta 2004 to Sunset 2012. From Homecoming Day 1 to License Agreement and beyond... Long Live City of Heroes!

I can say I'm guilty of branching off from team ONLY when it's apparent they are fine without me and damage output is excessive as a squad and that's only on non-support characters. I always stick with main squad with support characters. You branch off, you better be able to handle it. I understand when others do it and, in my mind, they're doing it for the same reasons I do. Sometimes players like me feel it's not really beneficial to stick with the team when excessive damage is being dished out. When I'm forming and leading and someone does that, I'd personally never kick them but I do say we're not going to speed this unless a majority wants to. I didn't form as speed, we're not switching to speed unless it's a collective agreement. They complete the mission for us too soon... they can wait outside, soak up the XP, continue to solo or join us. No harm, no foul on my end.

To be honest, a lot of casual players I've ran into don't want to bother with macros or do the research on macros. I'm kinda curious in general if people actually "like" the targeting radar all that much. Do they also use it for a quick TP where there's no enemy or something?

4 is generally all I use as well.

Just curious if others would prefer the "teleport to target" abilty of Feral Charge on these attacks as I would OR if people really dig that targeting radar.

Yea, I know it's shallow of me, but I only run story arcs with other people if it's through Ouroboros for the reason everyone gets the Reward Merits. As far as I know, it's always been that way since implementation of Ouro. I've suggested in the past for ways to reward people joining pick-up storyline teams, but I assume it's not a venture worth exploring.

I, too, could go for something in the vein of this.

My main is Dual Pistols / Martial Combat Blaster. Started originally as Assault Rifle / Devices on Live. Always wanted primary to be a "Gun Melee" and return back to Devices secondary. Something along the lines of this would have me rerolling him yet again.

Love being a part of the SNSs when I catch them. Last night was EPIC as all out! Think we got 21 + Kronos Titan? Thanks again TB!

That's the info I was looking for! Thanks a ton Michiyo!

Yea, that's the method I was using for Tequila but don't see the CityOfHeroes.exe in Homecoming folders... do I just use the launcher instead?

Ack, haven't searched for demorecord topics since 2021. Glad I found this and hearing that demorecord works with HCLauncher - I been using Tequila for demos for over 2 years. My computer either won't allow me to download the DemoLauncher or link is dead(?). How do you do demo playback the old fashioned way with HCLauncher using the Shortcut like I do with Tequila? Thanx in advance!