jubakumbi

This is my general outlook. The characters I 'make really fast' vs. those I 'take the time to build up' are tossed aside as fast as I make them... For really hardcore number crunchers and PvPers though, it has to be 50 before it can be crunched, so those people have a different outlook. I am way more into the overall package - Name, Look, Power Combo - than in just running to maximum potential. Other people powerleveling does not bother me, never has, never will. Why would I worry about or judge the actions of others? Mskes no sense to me.

1. Logging back in after so many years. 2. Launching and playing in a VM on my machine at home, knowing that no one will ever be able to take it away again. 3. Hunting Skuls.

IMO, this cannot be stressed enough. Any server right now is under the control of whomever puts it online, period. The server-runners can do whatever they like, there is no obligation to allow or disallow anything for players. It won't be long before there are mods to do things none of us here have through about previously, new costume parts, etc. I am actually suprised many of the players that worry so much about what others are doing are not just playing on private servers at this point, it's not hard.

Anyone not realizing end users will find ways to use a product they did not originally intend is un-informed. This game was one of the first to allow for player made content in the form of missions with rewards. Going first is always tough, especially when you cater to creative gamers and don't realize they will use the tools in ways you did not imagine. So, because they did not think about the ways to bend it, only the happy-path, a common mistake. IMO, with what we know now, the real reason the original developers probably approched the AE the way they did _was_ the hog on resources it is. Now we sit with a game that has many cool features, some features which, because of the FUD the original developers inserted in an attempt to gain control over resources due to a feature they added, has game-playing-police years later trying to tell others how to play. Who am I to judge? I just want to play the game and not have busy-bodies and chicken-littles trying to tell others how NOT to have fun.

Great. I still disagree. :) We cannot 'fix' people, there is nothing to fix, we are humans. If people choose to be herd animals, then that is thier choice. If they bow to peer pressure, that is thier choice. If they decide to depend on others for information rather than finding it themsleves, that is thier choice. Yes, on live, _some number_ of people were impacted by AE missions...my guess is that number is low...IME, the _forums_ is where the issue was, not in-game. I played from Day 4, with breaks, through closing. Sure, if you just hate to see AE Farm messages, then your perception on live in-game on Freedom might be that AE was everything, but it was _never_ the issue the _forums_ made it out to be, IME, it was just a bunch of busy-bodies trying to tell people to play the game 'the way they did' because otherwise 'they would not have as much fun'. IMO, it _is_ 'chicken-little' thinking to come and declare AE (Farm messages in chat) ruins the game or that a large enough portion of the population was negatively impacted (or would be now resources permitting). These mythical newbie players with no knowledge of how chat programs work to stop getting spam from others, what peer presure is and that they dont' have to play the way 'everyone' else does, that will be somehow impacted by AE getting enough resources...who are they exactly? How many of them will be impacted? Where is the data? All we have are the remains of the righteous indignation from the players that just hated to see other have fun in a way they disliked. :) So yeah, I might be flippant and blunt, but I learned a long time ago, this is a circular argument about the human need to control and force others into the 'right thing' more than it is about a feature in a video game. All of the arguments revoolve around 'doing it wrong'. :)

Awesome. I see the holding of costumes back as stiffling creativity, not progression or something to be earned. The real CoH to me is creating the exact look and name - not playing something less to 'earn' anything for visuals, that is not fun for me at all. Progression, is new enhanceents and powers, not how I style my hair, unless of course I just decide that _I_ want the _character_ to progress in looks, then it is _my_ choice. No longer is this game mechanic, added by developers of a game based around getting people to play more to 'earn' cosmetics, this is not a retail game anymore and does not need that treadmill, IMO. Anytime I see someone want to roll back changes that allow for more creativity I cringe. Go Hunt. Kill Skuls.

We fundamentally disagree, because IMO, there is no 'problem' other than some people trying to make others bend to their will. AE and PvP are not game breaking, that is chicken-little talking.

Having people like this try and bring down everyone else. Really. My first impressions with this game were people trying to make the game feel like work and that there was/is a 'right' way to play, concerned only with the details, not into actually having fun... Thankfully, I know how to have fun and not be a grognard so I have lots of great memories that don't include people trying to make the game more like work so they can feel better... My best memory is hitting 50 the first time in the War Zone, with my RL buddies.

This is all SRS BZNESS!

Totally true - the mechanical reason AE chnages were made here is resources - needs of the many and all that. The circular argument running for years over this _topic_ was not, until the specifics were brought up by Leandro(?), about resources. The argument was for years (continues in this thread) over using the AE missions from a 'moral' and 'right/wrong' standpoint, IMO, driven by people that literally think there are 'right and wrong' ways to play. Powerleveling to some people is a worse sin than PvP. For some, just playing to kill pixels, w/o a 'good story' is just a 'waste of time'. I am simply tired of having to slow down (in games, in life) because a few other people 'just cannot imagine'.

Nah, it's the horse that's dead, they just keep beating on the poor creature. More like the horse is dust and to even beat the thing you have to run an epic level mission of for Hate and Anger to gather the dust, add some Hellion blood and re-constitute the thing to even begin to strike at it. The whole thing, _just like every single other game_ boils down to a group of people that claim they 'cannot imagine why' or 'cannot understand why' someone would play this way, when in reality thier brain chemistry simply does not allow them to accept that other people live their lives differently. This same tired argument is some form exists in _all_ game forums. Play the 'right way' or GTFO. Some don't just lack creativity, they activily try to stiffle it in others, because 'they cannot understand.' Yeah, I am a bit bitter over it, because I am tired of people with no imagination or ability to think ouside the box trying to tell others to stop doing thigs they "just don't understand".

Tsoo Sue Mei would like a word...

Always, ever, obviously a design flaw. Leaving players to sort it out instead of fixing it was even shittier; they don't have the means to fix it properly. Players continuing to play such badly designed games is why things don't get better. Someone tried to bring me over to Everquest from Asheron's Call back when they were still the chocolate and vanilla of 3D MUDs (I'm thinking it was around Christmas '99, since I'd been going heavy in AC throughout the Beta for most of that year) and that was something encountered in the first five minutes, right there in the starting area. AC had that problem scouted in its core design, sorted before it even got out of Alpha. I dropped EQ like the hot piece of garbage that it was, and still resent every player who put up with it. Mind, that wasn't its only failure -- the almost complete lack of character customization and forcing fantasy religion on players was also awful. Sadly, they had more players, because, I suppose, most people have terrible taste. You want a martini with all those bitters? Sure, you are entitiled to your opinion. IMO, some people take ganes too seriously for a healthy life and should seek medical attention. If playing CoH helpes you enjoy life, I am glad. I don't want personalities this bitter over a video game to be part of my life...

More like, 'you are playing in public and only the server code has rules', IMO. Do these same people think they can prevent me from cussing in public? This tired OLD argument has gone round and round for years and years. IMO, it boils down to some people not being able to deal with the fact they cannot control the universe. If you did not notice, the OP 'left' after posts in this thread, so thier coping mechanism was to run away. A puclic server supports multiple playstyles. If you want only people that 'act the one true right way', run your own server and invite them.

The easiest answer is simply that when it come to capes, most people prefer to be the hero rather than the villian, it's not a hard formula. IME, most of the red-side has been more mature on average and better players, in years past. Personally, I played the 'villians' for years and years in PnP games, I have gotten tired of it, even if doing the right thing in a game makes me feel so wrong sometimes... To be blunt though, I think it is that most people cannot separate themsleves from the avatar, so doing evil makes them uncomfortable. My wife falls into this category, she is never the bad character, she only kills the bad people. :) The whole thing has always been a fascinating thing to watch.

I’m afraid I’m uncertain what you’re talking about and I doubt other people are too. :) Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt. FUD. So many people seem to make up things to be scared of to prevent themselves from enjoying life...

I agree. Stop the FUD. Do what you want to do. Fear of the 'terrible corporate menace' is silly, IMO. NCSoft will invoke it's rights, or it won't. Specific characters built on the server will have zilch to do with that. And money changing hands has absolutely nothing to do with any of it, nor does the ToS or the EULA. The code was stolen. We are playing on servers running on that stolen code, period. Worrying over copying trademarked characters at this point is silly, IMO. WHy do people love FUD so much? :)

/altinvite seems to be available.

Where does this FUD come from? The current servers are just as 'permanent' as anything likely to be built. The Archetype is fun and awesome. Why bring in the FUD?

All done in the client side files. There are multiple groups pooping up already that are looking into adding higher rez textures etc. I think in a short time, there will be plenty of mods.

The whole point is that people _cannot_ 'roll with it', thier brain chemistry simply will not allow it. It's sad, but some people simply cannot cope with a (virtual) world they cannot control, where there are people doint 'things' that are not 'right'. Hall Monitors and Wanna-be Authority Figures have always been rife in CoH. The entire idea that other people play games differently drives thier brains into meltdowns. Even here on servers like this, they bring up this useless and immature drama, thinking they are 'saving' the rest of us. In such a short span, this board has become just as funny the official forums were so long ago... IME, some people simply should learn MMOs are not for them, but if they keep coming back, who am I to judge?

All these years and the same tired arguments just get recycled. Don't you people ever die? :)

Yep, this is pretty much my attitude. I'm enjoying being able to play CoX again but if it goes away I'll survive. I'm not super interested in setting up a personal server, the appeal of CoX to me was always in the fact that it was a multiplayer game, I'm not really interested in a solo-only version. Pretty confident that unless NCSoft really puts in the effort, rogue servers will exist forever. Player numbers per server are anyones guess, but IMO there will always be servers now that the Internet has the goods. Plenty of private servers up for small groups already running on private VPNs etc.

On the CoX official forums, I was once told "emotion >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> logic" and that I was basically the devil for trying to live my life based on logic and data over emotion. I was once told in game that the developers that created the market interface should be killed...not in jest, or sarcastially, I asked. The game means a _lot_ to me, had plenty of fun times...still is just a game. Now, the community is tasking a few people with acting like full AAA game runners, with little to no experience, running servers they barely understand, and the drama continues to unfold - these guys don't even understand business and copyright laws enough, they think an LLC/non-profit will protect them, many still think money changing hands matters, etc. I don't see it ending well, but will keep rooting for them. The moment it seems 'legit' to run servers, I will, been in IT business a couple decades, cannot risk my career until I get more confirmation, personally. But, since I watched someone lose everything over playing Asheron's Call call too much, I cannot help but be concerned about people who place so much of thier well-being on a video game. None of this is any different than any other rogue server community. :)

Keep playing on a VM, local or otherwise, when I feel like it. Generally though, while I love this game and all, far too many of the Internet posts I have seen for years show me there is a not small number of people that, IMO, tie a unhealthy level of thier own personal happiness to this game. This has not changed since it started, IMO. The level of vitriol and drama around CoX is a bit much for me. Even a post like this alludes to people doing drastic things if they cannot play. Too much Drama, IMO. Like all things, just enjoy it while you can. Just my nickel.