[Succubus power combination]

Dark Control / Psionic Assault Dominator too.

[Game shuts down when opening a door]

I am occasionally having a similar bug, but so far only when I'm overtaxing my computer with lots of programs running simultaneously.  You may want to monitor your CPU and GPU usage in Task Manager to see if it spikes at the time when the game shuts down on you.

[What are these squares inside my character?]

I believe those are key pivot junctures for the rigging of the model.  In other words:  Important joints in the skeleton.

[Load Screen: Would like to permanently select 64-bit CoH]

Assuming the question was asked in earnest, and what followed wasn't just meant to demean, I break it down as thus:

Someone in a position of authority creates an imbalance in power by its nature, and it's my understanding that the etiquette is to act with responsibility and make reasonable efforts to attempt to offset said imbalance.

Using the listed example:  It would be like asking as a houseguest "what's the plan for meals?" and being snorted at, then mocked for asking.

 

Specifically to the post linked, we had what I feel was a very reasonable request for improved communication and transparency.  Then a reply which appears farcical was made, which was punctuated by a mocking call for there to be no continued discourse.  The development lead then "thumbed up" that post putting it as the defacto response at the top of the thread, which gives me the impression that they value the idea of communication with extreme disdain.

 

I understand that this is a passion project for the volunteers, that they have limited time, and that there are a number of factors which may challenge efforts to improve communication.  Indeed, the sticky-thumb may have even been made without reading the same specific context in to the post.  But ultimately the read I got from the situation there is "communication isn't worthwhile.  It's a joke."

I do hope it was only a little misunderstanding or an isolated moment of whimsy, and that a roadmap is actually in the works.  Or call it whatever you want; some level of communication which gives reasonable specifics in to the direction of development, with attention given to prioritization.  This sort of thing is generally a best practice anyway in development, and I feel the community should be included.

 

Ultimately, I know I have no authority or decision-making power here (see the above power imbalance).  I'd just like to go on record with my view of the situation in the hopes that I can articulate myself clearly enough to give my opinions some positive weight in the eyes of those who do hold that power.  Or, if failing to be compelling in my initial attempt, to encourage a continued dialogue to uncover what factors may hold back others from seeing merit in what I would like to share, and then attempt to mitigate those factors reasonably.

[Random thoughts you have in the City]

Fairly certain it was deliberate.  They kind of rather implied that religions in the City Universes took a turn away from real-world religions what with Zeus being real and such.

[Random thoughts you have in the City]

They were building an open-air stadium in the Wharf.

[A Question from The Homecoming Team]

Indeed, biostem.  I do take solace in knowing that the game can never die again the way it once had, but I would still like to see the best possible outcome arrive.  I know my hopes are probably overreaching by a large margin, but there's still hope.

And really, the best possible outcome, in my mind, is a City of Heroes that is to MMOing what the Cthulhu Mythos are to writing.  Yes, the original propagator was certainly not perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but he managed to create something lasting AND have the foresight to share authorship rather than horde it away.   I know there will be people who immediately baulk at the idea of zero centralized authority in authorship, but I truly believe that will yield the longest-living and healthiest City of Heroes experiences for years and years to come.

[A Question from The Homecoming Team]

But the threat of the plug being pulled would then return in the form of how it ultimately sunset the Live servers.

 

More than anything; having City of Heroes OUT of NCSoft's hands, and in the hands of an open source model would alleviate that fear.

[A Question from The Homecoming Team]

A more open approach to development and contribution.  We're on the precipice of a new potential leader in gaming history by being a community-governed MMO, rather than being a product under the control of a publisher who is two to three degrees separated from the actual impact of the content and experience, but was still calling the ultimate shots.

 

To see a City of Heroes where we actively engage in the development, and aren't held back by some intellectual property owner with no attachment getting to pull the plug from whimsy or boredom, or worse; some checkbox in a fiscal growth spreadsheet.

 

For any and all ventures to be legitimate, networked, and sharing communal resources to offer players and developers the opportunities they need to pursue what's ultimately best for the longevity of anything:  Diversity.  And with that, the options for personal customization and agency which originally marked City of Heroes as the best of something which no one knew they needed until they found it, and/or lost it.

 

Build on what we have.  Strive for greatness in the form of demonstrating to all the other game producers out there:  This is City of Heroes, and this is what we do right; by doing it WITH the community!

[Load Screen: Would like to permanently select 64-bit CoH]

Regrettably, the "official response" on that merely seems to be a "thumbs up" on a generic boiler plate statement that is entirely hollow and hurtfully dismissive:

 https://forums.homecomingservers.com/topic/9193-current-dev-road-map-section-of-development-forum/

[SO is this a fight club kinda thing?]

Only one we are aware of stating that they are in talks with NCSoft, at least.  NCSoft itself has been strangely quiet during all of this.

[Double the trouble triple the fun...]

When I multibox, I just run them all on a single computer on a single monitor, and alt-tab between instances of the client.   Certainly not the most efficient nor does it grant a great depth of usability, but just thought I'd share my set-up.   No other third party programs or automation.  Might be worth investigating for yourself?

[This looks familiar]

I approve of both of the above metamedia content posts!

[Sets you would play but...]

meh to Siphon Power and Fulcrum Shift; people obsess about DPS enough as it is.  Give me that raw, unfettered Endurance Recovery!  Sure, sure; throw in a little Transference too if I start to get low, but don't stop the Speed Boosts!  Never stop the Speed Boosts!

[Sets you would play but...]

But I need Speed Boost!   I need it to live!

[So...we've got plenty of heroes...]

Given that I've seen quite a few "risque" and button-pushy characters on Everlasting already, I'm curious as to which group/clique may have ousted you.  I know of a few small groups who have formed entirely around specific extremes of edginess, bad taste, and/or raunch and thrive within their pocket communities.

 

In short:  "Know your audience."  You may have presented your character to the worst possible social group for that particular character to be presented to.

[Missing Character]

If a character goes missing, try scrolling on the character selection screen.  Some times they just end up getting moved to a different column.

[Base Editing suggestions (No item-jumping, move only selected item)]

I agree.  The addition of a "lock current selection" toggle would be stellar!  ie:  Can't select any other object with the mouse cursor until the toggle is shut off.

[Mastermind Pet: Clones and/or female minions]

Thanks again.
Sounds promising to me.  Again, not suggesting that it would be easy or quick, and without taking a look under the hood myself, based on the present information there seems to be some hope.

Now, the Enhancement inheritance issue is something I'm just assuming, but I've already started to consider a potential workaround.  It's even MORE work added on top of what is clearly going to be a series of tasks for whatever individual or team tries to tackle it, but:  Max-range no-clip AoE Auto Powers which buff specific tiers of Henchpets with the values from the Enhancements.  Immediately I realize that something like that opens a whole new bag of cans of worms, but it's a thought for a solution to a potential problem.  Hopefully one which won't be necessary to resolve, should a solution to the Henchpet customization challenge be discovered.  All the same, it came to mind, so I figured I'd spitball it.

[Random thoughts you have in the City]

It just takes a period of time to adjust, I think.  When my city started hosting a yearly geek convention right in the downtown core, the cosplayers got a lot of attention.  Nowadays, though, it's just a matter of "yup.  It's the last weekend of July."

[Mastermind Pet: Clones and/or female minions]

Thanks for the details on that, Steampunkette.

 

Was there any detailed information on the workings of AE and doppleshadows?  How do those systems differ that allow them to have Powers which function for multiple varied character appearances?  Where-in lies the barrier of sharing those solutions with the Henchpets (other than the potentially monumental task of copying/decoupling every pet power for all the Henchpet Sets, and then re-attaching them to the modular character models with baked-in Mastermind AI operators)?  Is it an issue with Enhancement inheritance?  Anything else?

[Suggestion - dance moves]

I'm not sure the Dev team currently has a 3D rigger/animator with them.  It might be interesting to use dance emotes as a good test of various would-be volunteers' skills, though.  Have them make a dance emote to see if they have what it takes to work on more challenging animations.

[Reverse Altoholism]

Not saying anything for or against your proposal, but you may want to log on to Justin; the testing server.  As I understand it, you can insta-build a character there.  This might give you the freedom you need to explore some of the other character concepts in a hurry, and then come back and invest the time and energy in to building the one(s) you really like on these server Shards.

[Mastermind Pet: Clones and/or female minions]

Now, I've heard rumours and nebulous reasons of why it's technically not feasible to get Henchpets to spawn in with customized appearances, or even to stop them from spawning with random appearances . . . but I'm wondering if there's a coder out there who can break it down for the viewers at home just how exactly the existing code is uncooperative.  I've heard it described as a "hack" just to get Henchpet to be a thing at all.  And that the clones/shadows/dopplegangers are even /more/ "hax" than that.

What does a codehead and/or programmer have to say to the suggestion that we jury rig another layer of doppleshadowy hax on top of our Henchpet hacks?  Yes, it'll be adding more spaghetti to the plate, and that's not healthy for the long-term goal of straightening our noodles out . . . but where's the feasibility sit on that compared to the feasibility of this proposal:

 

- Create another 6 Costume Slots, locked* to Masterminds (* if possible.  If not, hell!  6 more costume slots for everyone else isn't a bad thing).

- Modify the doppleshadow code to access a specific costume slot, rather than the currently active costume being used by a player-character.

- Jury rig up a toggle so that players can choose between the current randomized Henchpets, or the customized Henchpet appearances.

- When toggled to Custom, the game calls on those 6 Costume Slots to determine the Henchpet appearances.

 

So, immediate concerns with my plan:  

- Extra costume slots.  We know these can be added, but how much of a pain in the ass is it?  What happens to the "/cc #" commands when we exceed single digits?  What's the data load gonna look like, and can the new servers handle it?  Can extra costume slots be created which exist "outside" of the normal 10, and therefore potentially avoid some issues (while introducing entirely different ones)?

- Toggle for default or custom.  What's this going to look like?  Is it an option in the Power Customization tab of character creation?  Some new GUI element (which is apparently one of the bigger pains in the ass)?  Some NPC like Null the Gull?  What happens when you switch the Toggle while Henchpets are already summoned?

- What does the doppleshadow code even look like?  What makes it such a hackjob, and does it contribute to instability issues?  

 

So . . . do we have anyone available who might be able to address these in detail?  Bonus points if terminology can avoid getting too technical, while still being detailed enough to articulate the nuance and depth of the various challenges laid out.

[Mastermind Pet: Clones and/or female minions]

The concerns about gendered violence not having any parity are valid, so dismissing them with the loaded statement of "but men have violence perpetrated on them" is old-hat.

I think the efforts to encourage the Devs to invest in to examining implementation of Henchpet customization are best served by not bringing up the false claims of equity.  Please.  I really want to see the Henchpet customization coding challenge solved, and I think turning this in to a gender politics thread is just detrimental toward the stated objective of the thread.

Discussions on the subject of gender inequity are definitely worth having; I just don't think it's here and now.