jubakumbi

"IME, that tribal knowledge, while at least sometimes useful" I take in all data, but it gets tagged with a source. Tribes of people build insular communities and CoH has them aplenty. "Trust but verify." Saying I disregard the data is not correct, I simply do not trust a group within a group to give me the whole picture, and in general I don't trust groups simply because the moment they think you are not a part of the group, they turn on you, IME.

And IME, that tribal knowledge, while at least sometimes useful, is typically heavily biased and therefore to be taken with a helping of ones prefered thing to ingest... "It's not that I am not a trusting person...oh wait...yes it is!" Even in RL, if the herd goes one way, I immediately look for all the other options and assume they would be better for me. 😉 I fear the tribe, because the tribal knowledge, to the tribe, it is sacrosanct, even when it is proved to be false. Mob Mentality, IME/IMO, is frikin' scary, and is promoted by tribal outlooks. I have been told by the tribe over the years for reading comics/playing PnP games/playing violent video games/not respecting others just because of age, etc., that I would burn in Hell/never get far in life/have no friends/generally fail. Yeah, not a big fan of the tribe. IME, the tribe does nothing but keep everyone down at thier level, because they fear everything else... 😉

I have seen links all over - here and reddit - not seen a big compendium. The Tools area here has a few of the popular ones for Icons. I have seen a couple packs at some point that replace some in-game chest symbols with DC/Marverl stuff.

Already being done. You can change pigg file contents at the client side, there are some post processing applicaiotns poeple like as well.

I have been able to provide 2 out of 3 for almost 30 years, mostly for finance, so of course none of it was cheap... Seems very resonable from my PoV. I still argue that for games, 'good enough' is, in fact, good enough, though...

I agree, when live are at stake. MMO code? Not so much. I like quality and those that do a great job as much as the next person, but I am perfectly happy to get games that are 'good enough'.

As I mentioned, I do not expect others to view this in the same way. One of the things that is fundamentally different is that I do not view MMOs as 'social' games. To me, like a PnP table top game, it is a 'group activity' but I have no desire to be 'social', I want to play the game. A very fine line, I know, but I have found in exploring Introvert, Extrovert, and Ambivert, where I fall and why. Extroverts feed off of the social aspects, I do not, I find the social aspects to be painful, not invigorating. Introverts that still want some human interaction like these games because they can control how much they get. I sit in the middle as an Ambivert. I can interact 'socially' in games, I simply do not want to...I get no real benfit from it in games IME. Some occasional humor is very nice, but most everything I see in MMO chat boxes is useless drama.."Man, I need IOs"..."I sure wish 'they' would fix SS"..."I cannot believe they allow the AE!"..."How dare that guy make a Supes rip off!"...meaningless idle chatter... The very last person I had to play games (this game) with that really understood and respected that was a 30+ year friend that died suddenly last week. All the rest don't realy play games anymore, they got too old, I guess. So this is not a new outlook for me, it cannot be 'blamed' on how MMO gaming has 'changed' - I have always played like this since AC1. It has nothing to do with MMOs, younger generations, or society changing - I have always been this way. One of the main reasons I posted these thoughts is to try and explain there are a rainbow of ways to approach the game, just like the rainbow of humans brain chemestries that exist.

Been in the biz for almost 30 years. The only clean code I have ever seen has been throw-away, use once never gain stuff. Now, I agree, good coding houses are better at documenting and cross team communication. A good wrangler can keep the thing running, no question, I help do it today. But, it's still bad pasta...in the banks...in the government...in the military...in schools...in hospitals...in games... And it is NOT new. I know people that helped create some pretty early stuff...all complex systems are glued with string and duct-tape. I saw plenty of terrible code when we had to limit to 4K of RAM. The whole 'bad in the old days' is BS in all chanels, IME. The blanket 'lazy and sloppy' is way over the top, thanks for insulting thousands of people...many of whom I know that work hard and well. So, sure, there are more and less well maintained and documented code bases, but if it does anything useful, IME, then it is a big bowl of pasta. Some people can even ruin pasta, so not everyone should be allowed in the kitchen, but it's still just pasta. So, no, it is not new, IMO, it is just more mainstream to be allowed to know about the bugs and errors. Most code, last I read like 85%+, is never seen by consumers. The lawyers kept access to even knowing there were issues like that really tight for decades because they feared lawsuits over bugs.

I think that most of the drama is the game is because someone thinks the words in the chat box 'have a certain tone', when it's them, not the words... 🙂 Part of this is actually the cranky old gamer in me... I happen to still be the kind of gamer that likes to explore and figure things out on my own, without being told the shortcuts... In CoH, I learned early on that the main group would turn on your instantly if you mentioned PL, AE, or PvP, so I doubly did not ask in chat for anything, I don't trust data from such biased minds. I think players that try and tell other players how to play the game are the worst of the 'community', I have never made that a secret. The OP just shows us that these players are alive and well in the 'community' and that they should be ignored or better yet, ostrasized, IMO.

That's a simple answer - some people are just mean. It is not more complicated than that. Some people just like to be mean.

I totally agree there are many players ready and waiting to answer questions in game. If they answer with a link to an external source, I don't find that to be snide or dismissive, it just means they have a link and they don't feel like typing out what someone else already has, for someone that could find it themsleves if they looked... Thinking someone is snide or dissmissive simply because they won't drop what they are doing to chat is exactly what I am talking about...they took the time to respond, is that not enough? Other players have to take time out of thier playtime for you, or they are 'bad'? That's how this sounds to me... IMO, there is, however, plenty of harm in asking the questions, just as the thread starter points out...asking a single question can somehow 'trigger' a whole slew of people to come out and do everything in thier power to invalidate the very way others play the game...that's kind of harmful, IMO. Again, I realize I am in an extreme minority here on this topic, so no worries, I expect few people to see it the same way. However, I stand by the thought that anyone just waiting to tell you how the game works is, IME, in CoH, also trying to tell you 'how to play', complete with nasty biases and false information, and that doing your own research should yield more neutral information. Why should there be a social contract that demands other players stop what they are doing in-game to explain the game to new players? Why?

I am curious as to why any thinks anything is 'well programmed'. I mean, if you knew what it takes to make a single phone call, you would realize that each one may as well be a miracle. This topic really baffles me, actually. I have never understood why anyone would think anything is 'well programmed'... The people that build these things know it's not. The people that maintain the code know it's not. The people that manage and pay those people know it's not. The general public is very familiar with the term 'bug' at this point. While all code is not written by humans, they wrote it or they wrote the thing writting it. So really, at this point, other than plain old wishful thinking, why is anyone ever suprised that all complex code bases are not easy to maintain? Why is it ever a suprise?

Just another PoV...please take it as the light-hearted devils-advocate it is intended to be...it is aimed at the general 'you', not You. IMO, asking anyone in-game for anything that can be found on the Internet is rude. Really. Once you get in the game, IMO, it's time to play. Builds, learning things, finding out how to farm, etc., all of those things, IMO, are out of game activities. Most all of the questions people ask in-game can be answered if they bothered to look over the menus and options and hover over powers. So really, IMO, it's like walking on to a basketball court in the middle of the game and asking 'how many points do I get if I make a hoop?', forcing everyone to stop what they are doing to address the question. I totaaly get that there are fans on the sidelines happy to engage the questions...along with the arm-chair it coaching involves... Also, IMO, when you enter the game, you enter the public square. You are no longer the King, you are just a peasant like the rest of us. Your opinion and your outlook are no more less valid than the next player, period. In the public square, you cannot dicktate what every pixel does or does not do on the screen. You do not have the right to not be offended. So, taking the ramblings of players that choose to be loud in the public square like crazy people in Times Sqare that spout off BS, as sound advice on how to play the game, is, IMO, simply the completely and entirely wrong way to learn how to play a game and is doomed to fail. Finally, IMO, adding all this up it leads me to the conclusion that most people play MMOs for very different reasons and in very different ways than I do... 🙂

Don't tell anyone how to play the game. Don't let anyone tell you how to play the game. Tell anyone telling others how to play the game to go jump. This is what works for me. For me it is sometimes hard to separate the elitist asshats and busy bodies from the game itself as well, @Insomm, and I get disgruntled at the game over what is, in reality, just me being mad at an idiot player who thinks they are above others. My free time is very precious to me and anything that impacts it negatively is to be eschewed, IMO. So, ignore and move on, IMO...don't engage, don't feed their Sadism and Angst, just /gignore and enjoy the game...not always 'easy' to do I'll grant, but it works for me. Sadists feed on your pain, so don't feed them is my philosophy. Here in CoH we have a lot of passive aggressive Sadists that want to make you feel bad for doing things they don't/won't/can't. They are the cutest ones, IMO. As you can see as well, this 'community' is chock full of people that will tell you not only how to play the game, but how to think as well, IME. The community of CoH is just as full of terrible people as any other game community, even if they think they are above the rest. Good luck finding your happy place, it's not always an easy path, flip off the haters and enjoy the game. Look me up anytime, happy to kill pixels, @jubakumbi.

Wait, you think forum rep means something?

Seems like a very narrow viewpoint, IMO. I know people that multi-box together with others. I know people that multi-box just so they can avoid being told how to play. I know people that multi-box to figure out encounters, test builds, test power combos. To think the only reason is that a person multi-boxes is that they cannot make friends is ludacris, IMO. What is with the whole 'I cannot grasp it, so it must be bad/wrong or the person involved is bad/wrong'? Really, that's the idea put forth here, IMO...play things my way or you are doing them wrong... What other idea is being conveyed if not that?

I agree the ecosystem that usually accompanies RWT for MMOs is a bad thing. However, IMO, that does not make the idea of purchasing content pointless or in any other way logically or morally wrong. It simply means that there are different ways to fund new content. I do, will, and would HAPPILY give my money to anyone producing costumes, content, etc. for a game I like, they have bills to pay. I bought everything from CoH back in the day just for this reason. I throw money at good games all the time, happy to do so. Funding a game and RMT are two separate issues, even if they touch on each other.

What do you have against eagles? They are wonderful, majestic creatures! 😉 Oh wait, was that a sports reference? ...

If only others could realize we are discussing ideas and opinions, not attacking peoples personal integrity. I am sure there are things we agree on and and disagree on, as we have discussed, even passionately, but I would prefer to discuss ideas without people twisitng my words into personal attacks... I have always noticed you, @Abraxus, tend toward the same outlook... kumbaya! 🙂 Nothing new, IMO, as most people I have encountered in my life, both physical and virtual, have a very hard time separating a difference of opinion from a personal attack. I usually try and follow the social mirror philosophy - I try to engage others as they choose to engage me...it's not as if I am unable to clap back... 🙂

Well I think you might just have what I call 'healer guilt' 🙂 My main buddy who plays has it bad...whereas I could not care less if others run off and fall down. I think the main thing is more simple though for me... I have not once in this game ever thought "let me explain to others in the team" without being asked how to solve an encounter. If the team does not suit me, I just leave, I simply do not have the wiring or desire to explain things to the team so that it changes to my liking. I really don't 'get' the 'need/desire' to tell others to stop playing or doing something in the game...I just walk away, my PoV is such that I don't want the unsolicited 'advice' and therefore I would never offer such. Obviously, I love to pontificate on my opinion, here on the forums, but in-game I just quietly kill pixels. Well aware that outlook is not universally shared. 🙂 I guess in the end, I prefer players learn on thier own without my intervention...if they can access the game, then IMO they can access Google and therefore don't need my opinion on how to play...I have to do enough 'leading' in my RL... @Abraxus, we can disagree until Judgement Day and I will respect your opinion, because you respect mine. We are, afterall, really just discussing how to respectfully playing a game. 🙂

Not to mention that herding is, IMO, the most boring and tedious possible way to approach the content. Sure, I thin the crowd now and then in big rooms by trying to agro a single group, etc., but herding is just tedious, IME. Many parts of CoH get repetitive and herding, IMO, puts that on steroids, making the game a boring chore that follows a formula for every spawn like some assembly line...ugh. IMO, the 'best' way to play is full of chaos and emergencies, because I run on Funs/per second, not rewards... Well aware after so many years of playing I seem to be the minority, but I cannot last on a herding team for more than a mission, to remind myself why I don't do it.

So, not worrying about faling down or team wipes is 'wrong"? 🙂 If so, I will never be 'right'. 🙂 Really, the way you word this @Abraxus, you are, in my mind, saying they way they chose to play is 'wrong'. 'The satifaction of knowing I was on the right side'. Really? To your own words, they got thorugh just fine, so it seems they did things 'right' to me. It's this kind of pervasive attitude that there is a 'right' and a 'wrong' way to play a game that, IMO, is the root of all Evil in CoH. 🙂 Added to a 'need to educate' sounds exactly like 'get off my lawn' to me, because the 'kids' did not play the way you would have... @Abraxus, I really respect you based on your posts, you seem to really try and be good to everyone, very neutral, so this post made me go 'whut?'...

We definately have a very different view on reality.

IMO, mutually exclusive is a bit extreme but I see your point. To me, it just means some level of restrictions to insure an equal playing field have to be added.

Did I say 'code it'? No, I did not. A project can have many parts, including a person with no coding experience, laying out what they might want, and herding the cats to get the product finished... I said 'create' and I meant 'create'. If you have the experience you claim to have in the service, then you know it takes a team to get big things done. Sheesh.