Abraxus

"...once the restriction has been lifted". That's optimistic! I like that!😎

I have no doubts about the fact that it is important to you, and a lot of other players too. However, these guys are doing for free what a much larger group of developers used to get paid to do as their main jobs. They have a LONG list of important things to attend to in the game, and while this might be on the list, there are likely a lot of things ahead of it in priority, in addition to their attempting to balance what they do for us vs. their real jobs/families. All we can do is make sure it's on their "wanted" list (which has a thread of it's own), and they'll get to it if they can. 😎

Oddly, this has been one of less frequently used AT for me in this iteration of the game, as well as the live version before. I did have a couple, and didn't dislike them, per se. The damage output was satisfying, and "up close and personal" in nature. But, I think I found while playing them that my style was more suited to the ranged, and control based ATs. When I look at my pantheon of characters, the numbers are overwhelmingly representative of this. Plus, when one throws in the Brute AT to the argument, with perhaps slightly less raw damage, but a bit more survivability, it's easy to go that direction when considering a melee toon. My favorite Scrapper that I have ever played, used what is probably one of least played power set combinations. His name is "The Immortal Light", and he uses Dark/Dark powers. I always thought that was kinda funny, but nobody ever seemed to get it when I played him.

Welcome! Glad you found your way home!

He has been imbued with a unique power, that makes him very hard to kill. If ya can't beat 'em, run like hell to make their lives miserable! It's not a sexy power, but it is effective! 😆

To be fair, my clone doesn't like anybody, including me! The "real" Abraxus has been killed by that fire-breathing son-of-a-clone more times that I care to count, and so have a lot of his brothers, and sisters from my pantheon of characters. So, don't feel bad. That guy is an equal opportunity a-hole! 🤣

Hmmm...I've never used the SM client, so I had no idea there was already a pop-up to remind them. But, my bet is that most of them have gotten so used to clicking through it, that they likely don't take much notice of what it actually says. But, you're right. What can be done, has been done. If the new patch goes live, and they scream "How could you leave me high, and dry like this?!?!?!?", they'll just have to get in line for the help once reminded of how long they had, and how many chances they passed-up to solve this issue before hand. I'm sure there will be some whose hardware just can't make the transition, and that is unfortunate. But, it happens with all games eventually if they are around long enough. I don't want to lose anyone, but it almost always happens with this kind of transition. 🙁

Absolutely! I figure no matter what you do, there will be a few who will attempt to login after the patch goes live, and go into panic mode when they can no longer find safe mode as a choice on their menu. But, every effort should be made to get the word out via every communication means available. Specific announcements on Discord, and a specific announcement on the forum as well. If there is a FB group, Instagram, Twitter...whatever. Let's spread the word to minimize the issue ahead of time. It's going to be hectic enough just sorting through legitimate issues with the changes themselves. The Devs don't need to be spending inordinate amounts of time solving safe-mode issues as well, which had ample opportunity to be resolved long before that day, had the folks with the problem heard. I know most of us get the majority of our information from here, and Discord, but not everybody pays attention to those regularly. Those are the folks who will be caught unaware on go-live day. Please encourage folks who know they are using safe mode to try moving off, and if they still have problems, to submit a ticket. It's a rare chance to be proactive!

Friend, I'm right there with ya! I've been here since the beginning, and that feeling of logging in for the first time with one of my re-rolled heroes from live, now reborn...there are no adequate words. It was like serendipity, wrapped in nostalgia, and dipped in joy! When the game was live, it was the only one I wanted to play. When it was gone, it was the game I wanted to play but, couldn't. So, I found some substitutes. Never got into any of them like I did this game. By April/May last year, I wasn't playing much of anything seriously. Then CoH was reborn almost overnight, and I was back. I haven't left since, and I never will so long as I have the choice.

I re-rolled my healer from back in the days of live. It wasn't as hard, or time consuming as you might think. You just watch the LFG channel, and send a PM to get on the team you want. Even if you did nothing by Task Forces, you'd be L50 pretty quickly. But, there are SO many other paths you could take. That's one of the great things about this game, among so many others.

Paragon City has missed you! Time to rejoin the struggle! 😎

My SG mates and I are running a team of ALL Radiation Emission characters! We used to do the same with a team of 8 on the Live server, and it was almost unstoppable. We layered on the Accelerated Metabolism, and stacked the debuffs until the opposition, even Giant Mosters, just melted. There was still a risk. If we weren't coordinated, or paying attention to our own heath, and got killed, it almost always turned into a team wipe. But, that risk for a bunch of squishies was what made it fun. We are doing this again on HC, with a team of 4, and while we can't turn the difficulty up to maximum like we used to, it's still set high enough to be challenging if we don't work as a team.

What you referred to was Icon, which was exactly as you described. A lonely walk through the nostalgia of being in-game, and hearing the music. But, that was about it. Paragon Chat came along later, and gave us the ability to interact with others, hunt badges, participate in "kind of" holiday events, and gather for special occasions. The screenshots of the celebration of life for Stan Lee in Paragon Chat would bring a tear to the eye, especially considering it was all for him, since there was no actual play possible there. Now, of course, we can play just like the good old days, but even better. We appreciate what we have so much more than we did back then. Losing it was a reminder that all things end. Sometimes, before their time. So, we now know to savor every day on these servers, and express appreciation for the opportunity to do it all again!

*Whistling to myself as I walk by without making eye contact* 😇

As a Dad myself, who likewise introduced both of my sons to the game, I know from the other perspective how this feels. My older son never really got into it. But, my younger son began by just embracing the "pew-pew-pew" factors of the game. Now, he is 21, and he is teaching me new things about the game. Real "Cats in the cradle" moments there to be sure. We still have not found much common ground, but CoH was, and remains the one thing we have no end of enjoyable conversation. Welcome back, and by all means, pass on this legacy! I'm sure it will be something you will both remember fondly forever.

I have said on many occasions that getting to play this game again is a very rare second chance that life seldom grants to anyone. I feel fortunate every time I successfully log in, and play the only game I've ever wanted to play since the very first time in 2004. None of this would be possible without you guys keeping it going every day, and continuing to actually make it better! So here's to ya boys (and girls) of the Homecoming Dev team! May Paragon City live forever, and the wings of justice never lose a feather!

I don't believe anyone is being intentionally marginalized. I DO believe that if the reporting of the issue(s) are handled through correct channels, they will eventually be dealt with. The Devs are dealing with an entire game, and they can only address so much of it at a time. Again, patience, and realistic expectations, combined with dialog on the issue reporting threads will go a long way.

I believe they are doing the best they can to stay on top of issues, and that if we keep our expectations realistic, and have a little faith that they are acting with the best of intentions, we won't be disappointed. For the record, I played a few MM back on live, and I found it to be far more work than other archetypes, and as a result, I didn't enjoy playing them as much as other types. That might be a feeling shared by many other players, and could be a more realistic explanation for the low numbers for MM players overall.

That's a huge leap isn't it? The whole "If, then else" thing seems a bit too absolute.

We are free to ask for whatever we like. I think the major differences come in our reactions when the answer is not what we want to hear. Again, I stress realistic expectations, which hopefully precludes us from being so invested in something we want, that we are angered, or severely disappointed when it can't, or doesn't happen.

Realistic expectation. The Devs have attempted to set things according to that concept IMHO. However, there is a lot of interpretation happening on exactly what constitutes "reasonable". They tell us, to the extent possible what's happening. They do their best to give us new things in the game with the resources at their disposal. All the while, still negotiating with NCSoft, so there are probably some paths of development they are either not willing to commit to without that being completed, or the lack of agreement keeps them from pursuing. We obviously can't know things like that, because they can't say. But, we ask anyway, and when they can't respond satisfactorily, we criticize. For a game that was gone from this Earth for 7 years, was miraculously reborn, and given back to us to play, I think it is doing pretty well. We so easily forget how against the odds it is that the game is even here for us again, and once past that fact, we start to think of it like any other game out there where it becomes "What have you done for me lately?". After just 9 or 10 months, we lose perspective on how fortunate we are to have a second chance at all, and start to want more of this, and more that. Personally, I think they're doing great.

By the same token, there are threads from folks who only JUST found out that CoH is alive again. I see a few of those a week. Imagine if Homecoming was able to actually advertise that fact, rather than letting word of mouth alone dictate the pace of new player influx. I suspect there would be a dramatic rise in overall player numbers for a few months, and then when the shine wore off for the new crowd, the numbers would decrease again. But, probably would still be elevated above today's numbers, having left behind another wave of die-hard CoH lovers, who will play as long as it's available to do so. I look forward to the day we can find out if I'm right, or not.

Welcome home, and glad that you are able to share in that rare second chance that we have been given.

Better, and better!

And, here we are 17 years later (give or take), still playing, and having a blast!