Abraxus

My main, Abraxus (pictured in my avatar picture) was heavily influenced by a mixture of Moon Knight for appearance, and the various heralds of Galactus for a backstory.

As a social conduit, what could be better than bonding over being Super Heroes/Villains together? Well, short of being in the same city, and having a beer that is. 😉 I have managed to reconnect with a good portion of my old SG, though not all of them actually play. I have a Discord server where a lot of them made accounts when I told them the game was back, but never actually used it after that. So, it's rather hit an miss as a total. But, the ones who do show up are the "die hard" players who feel the same way about the game as I do. We don't have the kind of time we had back in the good old days for gaming. So, with the time we have, this is where we choose to spend it.

One of the things I've always appreciated about this game is that it accommodates the serious hardcore enthusiast player (whether that's for INF, or XP, or I/O sets, etc.), as well as the casual player, who just wants to come in, do a few missions, and jump right out again. There was nothing special required really. For some endeavors, it might take a little more research on how to do it the way you wish, in order to accomplish exactly what you want, but it is almost always possible. So, advocating that changes be made to accommodate specific play styles is just confusing to me, and I believe counterproductive. It's all there for anyone to do at the participation, and difficulty level they wish. The players themselves can determine how they proceed. So, perhaps I'm missing something. But, there really doesn't seem to be any reason to change anything if you're looking to maximize INF. You just concentrate on those things that will do just that. No coding changes necessary.

Welcome back to the best blast from the past you're ever likely to experience! Things are fantastic in Paragon City, and the future holds the potential to make it even better!

We're trying to get it going regularly on Wednesdays, between 6-9pm PST. Most of the other participants so far are East Coast, so that's a factor.

We're actually on Torchbearer. Sorry. If we were running with a full team of 8 on a regular basis, we could probably do with a couple of RAD-based melee' characters. But, with the small numbers so far, we want to make sure that the AM, and debuffing are at their maximum. We haven't taken on anyone from outside the SG yet, but in later levels, when we are more powerful, we might well start just to get the +4\x8 thing going.

Last night, myself, and three of my mates from the old days of the LIVE server, got together and recreated our RAD-based group. All of us have the RAD buff/debuff powers, and it is just as fun as I remember it from so long ago! Originally, we were a group of 8, and comprised mostly of Controllers, and Defenders. Now, we have added Corrupters to the mix, which was not an option back then, and it makes up a bit for the lower numbers on the team. We hope to be at 6 next week, for even more wrecking-machine goodness, which will necessitate turning up the difficulty dial to keep things interesting. I'll just say that Accelerated Metabolism x 4 is fantastic, and Enervating field x4 put on ANY bad guy (or a couple of them to spread the radiation goodness), just makes them melt like butter. We did the majority of Positron 1 last night, and hope to finish next week, before moving on to Posi 2. But, I'm already looking forward to filling out our builds with more things like AOE, PBAOE attacks to make us even more effective. All that said, the destructive goodness was great, but what was really special was playing with folks I had not shared this game with for almost 10 years. And that is really what makes this game fun. The interaction it facilitates, around a Super Hero background, that promotes teaming, and cooperation. It's just something I didn't get from any other MMO I tried, even the other Super Hero MMOs.

This 👆

Here is my best guess. We will get new stuff on what is very likely already part of a feature progression plan. One that is predicated on a series of updates, where one must come before another. They will be tested to the extent that folks participate, and help QC those changes, then implemented. Any issues that arise, which weren't caught in testing, will be corrected before moving on to the next step in the plan. That has been HC's methodology so far, and it has worked pretty well. Will we get "X" at some point? Perhaps. But, it won't be in direct response to what is going on elsewhere. It will be a combination of what is necessary for the long term viability of the game, and the wishes expressed by the HC community, that they accommodate to the extent possible. They won't always move as quickly, or in the directions that everyone is 100% satisfied with, but they will move in directions that ensure maximum stability, and balance to the extent possible.

H2O Solid Thermodynamic Law

Welcome home! You'll find it pretty much as you left it. Perhaps a bit better in some areas. But, I think we all agree that there is no place like Paragon City, and no place that we'd rather be.

Consider perhaps that no cure is necessary, and that the "itch" is really where you truly live. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that! The purpose of a game is to find enjoyment. It sounds like you are already doing that very thing!

Yup. We'd all like for things to be even better than they are, and we can see a way to accomplish that. By being a more closely knit community, even if we don't play on the same servers, and to have all of the disparate groups working together. That's always the hope. But, reality intercedes, and complications prevent that level of perfection from happening. At a certain point, we just have to pick our ideal situation, and go with it. Concern over how it could be better if they would just do X (fill-in your preference there), is perfectly understandable, becomes unproductive, and unsatisfying at some point. Somewhere down the road, if things change, and this becomes more of a possibility, nobody would be happier than myself. But, I'm not going to pin my happiness, or satisfaction with my current playing experience to it.

Whatever their reasons, it's just not something they are focused on, and the only ones who are speculating on the why's, and wherefore's is us. The good folks of the forum community. The HC Devs are not denigrating any of the other servers. They have simply stated their path, and they are sticking to it. Currently, that path does not include sharing of development tracks with the other servers. They haven't deceived us about their intentions, or made grandiose promises that they couldn't deliver. As for the community, nobody's perfect. It may not be as "good" as it sometimes perceives itself. But, it's not as "bad" as it's sometimes made out to be either, which sounds about normal in the daily discourse of human interaction.

Welcome home! I think all of us here can identify with that sentiment! 😎

Yeah, I guess I am! 😉

Perhaps, if you like playing on HC, and the direction of the changes made here, you do that. If you like playing occasionally, or even always, on the other servers for the different stuff there, that's fine too. I'll do me, you do you, and we're all fine. Right? However, it's become pretty obvious from watching this thread (and the other ones very similar in content that came before it), that the compare/contrast discussions eventually lead to discussions of philosophical, and historical disagreements, which then give way to actual philosophical, and historical disagreements in the posts. There is no cure for this, as it's human nature. But, I think the original intent of this thread long since went off the rails, and now only serves as a platform for pontificating on the other subject material that's been contributed since the first page, much of which we've done before in other threads, and folks positions on them are well known. So, if commenting were turned off on this thread, it wouldn't be the worst thing that happened this week. Just my .02 of a dollars worth.

This me...being cool. 😎

Sometimes, you gotta push forward, even if it's the harder thing to do, in order to make the greater strides for the long term. It's understandable that some who play the archetypes most affected by the bug are frustrated, but unless there is some willingness to jump over to Pineapple, and help test, the only thing that will assuage that frustration is a little patience. You can take as a fact nobody is doing this to push players away intentionally. However, this appears to be a group of changes that are more easily fixed than rolled-back, so demanding they be rolled-back anyway is asking for a little too much. This isn't a billion dollar development house. It is a community/volunteer effort, and they are doing a darned good job at it, given their resources, and available time. So, cut them just a little slack, and let's try to keep our expectations realistic.

Here's my take. The Homecoming team says what it does, and does what it does. Nothing more, or less. It doesn't disparage the other teams, and typically wishes them well. They are not obliged to do anything beyond what they said they would do, which is to keep their servers open, and available for us to play. Their actions to date have been in-line with their stated goals. If their have been any ulterior motives, or ill will, it was only that which was ascribed via conversation threads like this one. Where someone asked a question, it was answered, and somewhere along the line it skewed into perceptions of relationships between the Dev teams on the other servers, which gave rise to speculation on a number of things. We are a community, and like any community, we have differing opinions, and preferences. We typically discuss them without devolving into anger. There have been exceptions, but fairly infrequent. So, I see no reason for any of that to change. Yes, some servers have some neat-o features that HC does not. HC has done some things that none of the others have done. The population center is still pretty much HC, but that doesn't mean the other servers have nothing to offer due to lower populations, if that's your thing. On the question of ownership, I agree. Right now, everything is equal. They are all rogue servers, operating because NCSoft has allowed them to. If that were to change, CoH would not go away. It would just splinter into many smaller shards spread out all over the world. So, one would just have to find one that they liked, and that would be that. However, that being said, Homecoming is negotiating for legitimacy with NCSoft. If that is successful, that will have an effect on the current landscape. There is no denying that. What effect, nobody can say, because we don't know what exactly that will mean until it is announce. We can speculate, and supposition the possibilities all day long, but the truth is NOBODY except the folks doing the talking know for sure. Until they do finalize things, and make it public, we go on as we have. Nothing changes, and there sure is no cause for in-fighting over who will still be standing when those talks are over. It could be everybody, it could be just one (legal), or it could just not work. To me, it is another of those things that HC is attempting to do that none of the other hosts have done, and we don't know what it will mean, until we do. What we cannot do is let the fear of the unknown do what it typically does, and create divisions over the mere possibility of changes which, at this time, have yet to even be defined. I have no doubts that once it is said, and done (assuming it is successful) there will be those who refuse to recognize it, or be a part of it, just because it is NCSoft. Others will dislike it for other reasons of their own, and likewise refuse to have anything to do with it. In the end, we will all make our own decisions on where we want to play, based on all the information available at the time. Right now, there is a lot we don't know. So, until that changes...I will just play the game.

👆 Yup. This!

Probably hard for them to make specific promises, or commitments before the negotiations are completed. I have no doubt they WANT to do the sexy stuff. But, these things require the roadblocks to be cleared before they can talk about them, let alone get our hopes up about them.

Nobody here can speak for what the Devs have in mind for the future of HC. However, we know that they have been concentrating on two main things for the past few months. Getting folks weaned off the safe mode client, and over to the 64-bit, which has been (and continues to be) a lot of work. They are also working behind the scenes on their negotiations with NCSoft for legitimacy. I'm sure there is a lot that they'd like to do that is contingent on the successful out come of that process. Both of these are unique to Homecoming, as is the fact they they are running the I25/26 code, while everyone else went with I24. So, their development tract will inevitably be different from the rest. Some of those things could come our way at some point, though perhaps not in the same order, or priority. What I do know is that Homecoming is working on the long-term viability of CoH as a presence in the gaming world, as well as the future-proofing of the code, and the client. So, while they might not be doing the sexy stuff that other servers who are not concentrating on the same goals, they are playing the long game, rather than the short-term. They have done some mission works, some AT stuff, some new power pool, and some tuning of powers. I think that, in addition to everything else they are doing is a lot for a group of all volunteer developers, who do this for love of the game, rather than reward.

Basically, you're gonna play. In the course of play, you will have questions, and all the resources quoted here will contain the answers. If not, there is the Discord, and forum communities to help. In essence, play how ya like, with what ya like. When you want to explore things, or have some mystery solved, the answers are out there to help the game really come alive for you. Before you know it, it will have become a part of your life, as it has ours. Then, like us, you will be playing for as long as the game is available to play. Just know that there is no wrong way to play so long as you are respectful to others. You will make mistakes in your builds, you will re-roll characters to do them better the next time. You will discover your preferred progression plan, and do that until it gets old. The nice thing about a mature game like this, there are MANY routes to take from Level 1 through Level 50+3, and each of them are fun. And, in the end, that is the only thing necessary. To have fun, enjoy your time on the game, and in doing so, perhaps form associations with other players that can make the experience even better. I have found all of this to be true for myself. I can only hope it is the same for you. I don't claim to be the best, most knowledgeable player ever. But, that was never my goal. My goal was to have fun, and enjoy the game on my terms. That is what I have done, and the only real recommendation I can make for you.

If you want to speed things along, perhaps take a trip over to Pineapple where the fix is being tested, and help them figure out if what they've done, actually resolves the issue. Folks familiar with the problem are the best qualified to test the solutions, and with that kind of participation, the next time they patch "Live", it will be a done deal! Then we can move on to some NEW fun stuff!