Shenanigunner

I just feel that PvP distorts a game when it's not the actual point. CoX is a PvE game; shoehorning in a mode so P's can pound on each other leads to an endless chain of compromises that cripple the main purpose. I think that precisely happened with the current game, and for all the whining and please-mommy and I'ma-gonna-sulks, it didn't add much. The PvP zones and arenas were never well populated. So I'm a perma-no on that, for whatever tiny speck in the cosmos that's worth. If PvP has to be included, then it has to be completely isolated, all but a separate game, and not one dev minute or decision spent enabling or "balancing" it.

I just wanted to say, on one of the last pleasant online worlds in which I pull up a stool and bend an elbow, that if the City-Data forums were to implode into a black hole and take every one of their siterunners with it... I'd buy a round here. As you were.

Point being, in case I was too cryptic, that they have spent a decade meticulously perfecting what looks like an MMO, without actually building anything that's actually a game. Maps, a costume creator and lore don't add up to anything but a volume of D&D rules.

I think they've discovered that you can make a really, really, really detailed model of a rocket. Unfortunately.

Really? I'm not exactly running a coal-powered rig. I can't imagine how any advance could keep the game from running, assuming things like a compatibility setting or two.

The same, except: No hard zones, at least, not across most of the 'city.' Some compartmentalization for hazard and remote zones. Maybe bad things happen to lowbies who think this means they can go anywhere. Completely modular power building scheme. Very deep writing on the major mission arcs, much more than 'here's some backstory on why you are fighting another tide of these same villains.' Significantly more variation among villains, so that not every Council mission is a re-peat. Maybe the mission briefing will really, really tell you some detail you need to know, to slot up and team up the right way, and just charging in, dumb-ass hero style, doesn't overcome that. Option/path for real consequences... like death. Or maybe you're injured in a way that forever prevents you from having some upper-tier power or buff. Maybe some power options have to be earned in non-linear. non-grind ways. No PvP. Period. At all. Ever. No matter how loud the puppies whine. It just effin' distorts the whole game, top to bottom. Maybe, overall, a lot less "I can do any mission if I'm just Superman" simplicity. Maybe Supes will find out the glowing green rocks in the cave are kryptonite, or Bats can't win without picking up a 9mm. But rig it so sheer power/s and slotting and buffs can't always mean a win. And just... new all through but all the same, like a new gen Corvette.

I'll be among the very last to complain about anything to do with the game management and operation — I'm too busy sinking to my knees in gratitude for it all — but I am always a bit surprised that (1) at least two and probably three servers are maintained for almost nil user populations, while (2) my occasional suggestions that speeders be given an optimized server to play on (basically: insta-50) are howled down largely on the argument that there's not an unlimited time or money budget for servers. Okay, nobody listen to Zathras. Zahras go back to play now.

I'd run up an alt or two to 20's, organically, just for the gameplay experience. Solo or team on regular missions, not the speeder ones. Skip the boosters. Maybe even skip the free powers and buffs. Then, it's not too bad to run 2XP and load up on all the P2W free powers to get to 20 semi-organically. By about 24, you level just fast enough anyway and most of the free powers are fading in effectiveness.

Heh. Great way to put it. Well, welcome back. The good part is that the game is just the way you left it — or can be, even if you accept some of the improvements and streamlining. Or not, you can run the cape missions and the respec missions and grind just as hard as in the old days if you choose. And take it from me, a charter member who's put a lot of time into playing and almost as much into making contributions to the community: I have no concept of why the 'speeders' even play any more. The ones who build each alt and then take every single shortcut to get to the end game content, over and over. It doesn't even seem as if they... like to play, any more than anyone likes doing gym work. it's just a slog to get a different AT to that end game content and see how maxed they can get it. Look! Another eighth of an inch on my bicep! I mean, __________ TF in 21 minutes flat! I play to play. And I love meeting/chatting/teaming with like minds, and kind of wish my suggestions to built a speeder shard would be taken seriously. And strewth? I still don't have a 50 on Homecoming. Two or three close enough, after several years, that I guess I need to nominate one to be the first. But I have more fun playing my dozen avatars than gaming things to get to the payoff. So welcome to that version of the game... yes, it still exists.

Since a respec can fix everything except original powerset choices, and even a high-level respec takes no more than an hour even if you dawdle and then need to reconstruct all the trays... I guess I fail to grasp the question. I mean, does anyone "play to the death" on builds and respecs, grimly refusing to fix things when mistakes are made? Even with good builds, there's almost always one or two points where a respec allows you to jump an alt's capabilities by choosing all later powers and moving slots around. And how long does a 40s respec take you? Especially when working from a Mids profile?

They undid the nipple nerf? Yayyyyyy!

That could be a clip from a nonexistent MAD Magazine article "Hollywood vs. Reality."

Tacks man? Damn Malta caltrops.

Yeah, LoupeDeck is a slightly up-market competitor. Most of their offerings parallel the upper SD offerings, with knobs and so forth. I didn't see a simple, button only model when I looked around. Seems to be in the Apple/Euro end of things. Not a clue on how strong their software partners are (most of SD's really good plugins and general features are from third-party developers, for example). And that's a newer version of the shuttle/jog device I've used for video work for a long time. Really useful for editing.

I can't reveal what's really behind the door, but this was the real "server closet" of a rather large client, a few years ago: The janitor's closet I really want to get into, every time, is the one in the office layout, big X-shaped room, in one corner and down a long hallway. I rattle the knob on that one every mish.

Nice! I haven't actually found any in-game use for it yet; the auto-login is nice but I pretty much find binds to do everything I need, and MM binds on the keypad work well for me. But glad to see my low horizons aren't limiting the possibilities. 🙂

Maybe. But it's an LCD screen overlaid with transparent buttons, and you'd have to duplicate the management software without infringing, and then get the several key plugin developers to duplicate their contributions. At that, US$150 seems fair to cheap. 🙂 Especially considering the less-flexible Logi G13 is US$550 or so...

Oh, the line includes ones with knobs, foot pedals and probably seat-tilt sensors too. 🙂 Most of those are suited mostly to things like video, where having easily accessible controls for things like color balance and multi track volume adjustment are useful. But for general use, and even gaming, just the button models are enough. Just unfortunately overlooked because of the way elgato chooses to slant their marketing.

Yes, for some reason these are locked to the "power streamer" market, and most writeups sort of imply that they are specially suited to that oddball niche. The truth is that, other than some canned macro and control sets for streaming apps, they're as universal as a mouse or keyboard. There are two or three macro systems for them that will do just about anything a user can do with a keyboard and mouse... no matter how elaborate. The differences between this and devices like the Tarterus are: The Stream Deck is just buttons. You can put it anywhere you like, at any angle or orientation, and just push the darn button when you need to. Gaming HIDs more or less require you to position them one way and dedicate the use of that hand (usually left) to them. It's not convenient to reach out, get your hand positioned, and then press one button. Nor are they shaped very well to reach over and poke. So, one is almost entirely optimized for game-play use, and the other is suitable for nearly every other purpose. The Stream Deck allows highly customizable buttons via the LCD backlight. Any square image can be combined with almost any arrangement of text, and modified on the fly. No more stickers or having to remember what G14 does... in each app. It's also essentially infinite buttons, 6 or 15 or 32 at a time; you can easily switch between arrays for different purposes or "more" keys. It also integrates beautifully with Corsair keyboards and iCue software; I have some very elaborate key remapping and color coding setups that are each one SD button tap apart. My entire takeaway is meant to be that these are incredibly flexible, powerful, useful devices — far more flexible than most "gamer" devices, and useful for far far more than managing your "pro streaming empire."

This is good. I was planning to post some clips from my libraries, but this is it. Shift plus regular movement keys, or MAYBE shift plus arrow keys, is as intuitive as it gets. I'm very much a binds guy, but if you insist on macros, and have a lot of complex ones, a "macro builder" bind set is a good idea. That is, you save your current keybinds, load a macro-builder bind set, press all the keys (F1-F12, for example) to build your macros, then reload your regular binds. (More details on that if anyone wants.) I'm also big on intuitive, useful TP binds, so more of those if anyone's interested.

Good place to remind folks of the amazing City of Zeroes comic that ran for the first 4-5 years of live, recounting the adventures of a couple of hapless citz amid heroes and villains — http://shenanigunner.com/coz/

That's my recollection at the time. Not "forced to" but "seemed like a good idea on a global community level." Neither a hard truth nor just gamer lore.

I use whole tiers of UI automation. I remap the keys on many of my major working apps. I use app-level macros and scripts a lot. I have some software macro tools but tend not to use them in favor of these other techniques. And, back onto this specific topic, I have always loved having dedicated hardware keys available. The SD set, with several different macro and function sets, an essentially unlimited number of keys, and the fantastic ability to assign an image to a key so that you no longer need cheat sheets or to remember what Ctrl-Alt-NumPad3 does... I am in Nirvana. ETA: did I note that the SD system allows you to macro-ize mouse operations as well as keyboard and functional ones? It's not very flexible but with things like the game buttons in the same location all the time, mapping the entries is easy.

Yeah, in my searches I glanced at a lot of gamer-specific stuff. Really like the Logitech one but it's $550. Their flaw for non-game use is that they more or less require you to dedicate your left hand to them; hard to use on an ad-hoc basis. The Stream Deck is just a button pad, and the LCD keys are really really really useful/nifty. Can't get a decent lighting balance between black case and lit buttons, but here:

Maybe my verb tenses need work. I HAVE a Stream Deck (Mk 2 15-button) and besides finding about five cool new things to do with it every day, including controlling some complex setups for the keyboard, I HAVE that one-button login to CoX. Three, in fact, that I just tweaked for greater reliability. It's a nice addition for both work and play.