Zombra

Don't be scared off by all this trillionaire talk. Since you already know about attuned enhancements, you already know everything you need to about the economy. If you want to go deeper, read guides, work 40 hours a week flipping converters, and try to get the biggest bank account of all time, go for it ... but there are players out there who still play simply for fun and do just fine - *gasp* even at level 50.

If you feel like you have to do this to be a part of COH, you had bad teachers. I can't think of any reason to torture yourself like this except highest end PvP against other trillionaires.

Quickly weighing in on this - yes, I see it all the time. Pretty sure it's "patrol" dialogues. I don't have a specific example but it seems like every mission out there reverses patrol speak like this example: Melee Thug: Don't worry, they won't. Shooty Thug: I hope no crimefighters find us. Weirdly, it doesn't seem to happen in Architect missions, at least not when testing.

@JayboH OK, I slept on it and I have a guess what you might mean. When you say that the interpretation of rule 3 should read, "Since the enhancement is slotted, the power becomes instant-cast per rule 1", by "per rule 1", do you mean "in the same way as in rule 1"? It's okay if you want to say that rules 1 and 3 as written both operate in the same way (they do), but neither one is "per" the other. Rule 1 and rule 3 are independent statements; neither affects the other.

Read it then, read it again now. They look like English words but no apparent statement is being made. Rules 1 and 3 still have no meaningful relationship, regardless of how different rule 2 is from either of them. None of the rules activate each other nor counteract each other. Beginning to think my real mistake was in trusting a good faith argument. A good troll? If so, well done. If not, maybe try rephrasing. Either way, I salute you.

I'm confused. The description of instant-cast in Sniper Rifle is "this attack becomes instant-cast". That's it. The enhancement text says "your snipe powers become instant-cast". The two descriptions are fundamentally identical. Rule 1 does not have a better description than rule 3. There's no need for either to reference the other at all.

I haven't done a checklist or anything but I have noticed it happen a lot in Mayhems.

I love that hustle! But no. The enhancement rule (rule 3) doesn't invoke rule 1 at all. The condition for invoking rule 1 is that the character must be engaged in battle. The enhancement text doesn't say anything about whether the character is engaged in battle. The rules of enhancements are activated for a particular power simply by slotting the enhancement, unless otherwise stated. Another way of looking at it: If rule 1 said "If you are sleeping, you are breathing" and rule 3 said "You are always breathing" That does not necessarily mean you are asleep. Rule 3 does not invoke rule 1. If I have made a mistake, you haven't shown it yet. --------------

The in-game text? I didn't feel it necessary. We all agree on what the in-game text says. But sure, here it is again: 1) (Snipe power) If you are engaged in battle this attack becomes instant-cast. 2) (Snipe power) If you are not engaged, [this attack] will do bonus damage. 3) {Enhancement) All of your snipe powers become instant-cast. Do we all agree this is what the game says? Yes? Are there any other rules the game tells us? No? OK, great. Let's see how this should work then. Suppose I am not engaged in battle yet, but I have the enhancement slotted. What will happen when I use my snipe power? Let us check the written rules we all agree on: Since I am not engaged in battle, rule 1 does not apply. Rule 1 only applies if I am already engaged in battle. Since I am not engaged in battle, the power will do bonus damage per rule 2. Since the enhancement is slotted, the power becomes instant-cast per rule 3. Therefore, according to the rules we all agree on, the power will be instant-cast and do bonus damage. But this is not how it actually works. How it works does not follow the text of the rules, the text we all agree on. Absolutely not that, because the power description does not say that having one effect means you can't have the other. It only gives us an incomplete list of some ways we can get the effects. If there is a place anywhere in game where it says you cannot have both effects at once, please quote it. However, I do indeed think that the enhancement description should show all its pertinent rules; not just some. "All of your snipe powers become instant-cast, and no longer do bonus damage when initiating combat." would be great. That would make it clear that the normal engagement rules for snipe powers are out the window. -----------

I was very clear above that I do not have an issue with how the power works, nor with how the enhancement works. The issue is that how they work is not properly explained by the game, leading players to invest in an expensive enhancement (and possibly an entire set) that works differently than it says. Your "thus" part is made up. Nowhere does it say that it can only be one or the other. You are jumping to a conclusion that is not expressed in the written rules. In other words you're guessing. It happens that your guess is correct, but well-written rules don't require guessing to understand. ------------ Thora: Hi Gisele! Looking forward to seeing you tomorrow! If you wear blue shoes tomorrow, I promise I will give you a cookie. If you wear orange shoes tomorrow, I promise I will sing you a song. If you wear an orange jacket tomorrow, I promise I will give you a cookie. Gisele: Great! I'll wear an orange jacket and orange shoes tomorrow. That way I'll get a cookie and a song! Thora: Absolutely not. It's obvious that you can't have both a cookie and a song. Gisele: Um, that's not what you promised. Thora: Yes, it is. Who is right about what Thora promised? ------------

This is sincerely valuable information, thank you. So the game straight up wasn't built in working order in the first place. I can certainly admit that my memories from 20 years ago of it working well are probably rose-colored. Sad but I'll follow your example and test a lot to 'trick' the game into delivering something close enough. Appreciate the reply.

Mission: To What End for Power Part Two (and countless others, but I just tested this one) When approaching the Keres elite boss, Enemy Unaware dialog does not trigger, even when I enter the room, until combat starts. Then it triggers at the same time as Enemy Attack dialog. This happens all the time in tons of missions (though not always). I am fairly sure this was not the mission behavior on live - when I started playing Homecoming last year, I immediately noticed it in all kidnap missions, and some others, and noticed how wrong it felt.

Seems odd that Enemy Attack Dialog triggers immediately in the room. Isn't there a trigger for when combat starts? If not, is there any difference between Enemy Unaware Dialog and Enemy Attack Dialog?

Architect mission testing. Mission goal: Release captive. Map: City Map 01 Patrol dialogue triggered in chat box, but no word balloons in gameplay space so speakers cannot be located. Seems like they are too far away.

OK, here is one with specific details. Architect mission testing. Mission goal: Release captive. Map: City Map 01 Immediately upon entry, Enemy Unaware Dialog, Captive Inactive Dialog, Enemy Attack Dialog, and Captive Active Dialog all trigger instantly. I am 380yds away from the captive and there is no line of sight. No word balloons appear in game space, def too far away.

THANK YOU. I didn't mean to be vague, just had no idea if this was a big thing everyone just accepted or if it was just me and no one knew there's a problem. I will get together some specifics soon.

Still the best character creator of all time. Not just the looks, but what they can actually do! Top it off with a description section to share my writing of their backstories and you have a system second to none. I've made lots of characters in other RPGs with worse gameplay ... then asked myself, "What if I remade them in COH?" and had far more fun with them. Even games in different genres - fantasy characters, sci-fi characters - they can all have a home here (with liberal use of Portal Corporation in their backstories). Combine my characters my way with actually good MMO combat. So much action, so much movement. Knockback. Line of sight. Cone positioning. Even party formation. Is my character so powerful that combat is getting boring? Crank up the difficulty and now I have to learn how to use their powers all over again, smarter, better. Every other MMO I've played, you stand there and click powers, and watch HP bars go down; there's no reason to move. Here it's ALL about movement. So many factions with mixed enemy types and things to learn. Knock down the Engineer first so he doesn't summon a force field. Ignore the giant mechs - kill the Sappers before they drain your endurance. And lock down those goddamn Nerva Spectral Demon Lords before ANYTHING else. Of course eventually you learn everything, but still, one mission to the next things are going to be different. Keeps me awake and focused. Great teaming, with friends or randoms. Of course my friends also love making intricate characters to their exact concept and specifications, so it's fun to see their dreams realized. Even random strangers in Atlas Park can be fascinating to examine. I've never been in another MMO where I wanted to stop and stare at someone, read their bio, take photos of their costume, and see how they married the whole idea to their power sets. Start talking in character and a decent amount of the time others will join in! Total strangers! Wanting to role-play in an RPG! Amazing stuff.

Seems like Homecoming has always had issues with dialogue triggers. Patrols trigger their dialogue when they're nowhere near the player. Hostages never trigger their 'inactive' dialogue until the player attacks their captors, so 'inactive' and 'active' always happen at the same time. Bosses yell out challenges to the player from 3 floors away. Trying to write Architect dialogue that will trigger at the appropriate times is a huge nightmare - it seems like every dialogue plays out immediately, making any attempt to frame a story with a beginning and an end impossible. I don't remember it being like this back on live.

That's all fine. I don't object to how it works but the text on the IO is definitely misleading. It says it's always instant cast but it does not say it removes the bonus damage.

OK, I couldn't stop thinking about it and I read some of the arguments upthread. Boiled down, I see two basic arguments: 1) Some people enjoy the game as it is. 2) Some people would like to see the game evolve so they can continue to enjoy it. Yes, that's very simplistic but I think it cuts to the heart of it. Since the apparent purpose of Homecoming is to keep the game alive for those who enjoyed it in the day and who continue to enjoy it now (Am I wrong?), I believe that while both arguments have merit, argument #1 has more merit. Dismantling (parts of) the existing game to make it more palatable to those who have played it to death, at the expense of those who appreciate it as is, is, I believe, counter to the spirit of the project. Since shutting down the market would take away something that people are enjoying today, that would be more damaging than not giving new bypass options to players who are getting bored. I don't believe the conclusion is true in every aspect of life, but in this case, to err in favor of preservation is better than to err in favor of innovation.

Just sending up the premise of the thread: It's easy to earn rewards but a lot of people just don't want to. Therefore, let's give everyone infinite rewards and everyone will be happy. PS @battlewraith thanks for your thoughtful and interesting reply. Gives me some things to think about. Looks like the thread may be locked soon but I'll sleep on it and maybe we can explore more later.

Thanks for this thread. I almost started building this set for a sniper concept character. No thank you! I would love to see the text on the enhancement updated because it is misleading. Nowhere do snipe powers say that instant-cast and bonus damage are mutually exclusive. Game rules: 1) Power description: if engaged, then instant-cast 2) Fast Snipe description: if slotted, then always instant-cast 3) Power description: if not engaged, then bonus damage So according to the text, if I have the IO slotted and I am not engaged, rule 1 does not apply but rules 2 and 3 do apply. I should have instant-cast and bonus damage. Not saying the rules should change but the text should be rewritten to accurately reflect them.

Next: all characters should start at level 50 with all badges already awarded.

A buddy of mine hasn't played in a while and says Mids Reborn somehow deleted all his character files. I don't know any details at this time. Anyone know what might have caused this to (apparently) happen? Possible to get the files back you think? Any insight appreciated.

Hi! If you are in a hurry and just want to get to the point, skip down to ** The Mission ** Background: I like to make big banks of 'character barks' on rotating binds. Some characters have rotating battle cries, or "Hello citizen" type lines, and a few other types based on unique concepts. The Difficulty: Usually I use AI to generate a million ideas and I sift through them for inspiration, then edit/write the real lines for use in game. But you know what AI is still terrible at? COMEDY. I have a comic character I need dialogue inspiration for and AI is no help at all. The Solution: ask humans, who can actually be funny. ** The Mission **: I want a library of very short comedy bits for my Robots Mastermind and her wisecracking (?) sidekick Battle Drone. The goal is to have a lot of quick throwaway one-liners or "two-liners". Nothing long that will clog the chat window. Example: K4Z-0: Your <bzt> last shot - missed by 3.7 - centimeters Techno Smith: My next one won't. That's it! All ideas welcomed, but remember these are rotating binds to be spouted randomly, so anything that requires a specific situation probably won't get used. I am still finding "voices" for both characters so anything goes as far as tone: clever, dumb, silly, subtle, slapstick, satire. Ripping off existing jokes encouraged. The only kind of humor that I find automatically boring is pop culture references. Other than that, go ahead and start posting jokes. Optional: further character details in case you want more context: