Abraxus

My take is that, between the efforts towards legal legitimacy, and the move away from the safe mode/legacy version of the client, there are a lot of things they'd like to do, which are predicated on sorting out those issues first. There are other servers that cater a bit more to popular demand, and that's fine. Variety is a good thing, and for some preferable. For myself, I prefer the more methodical approach, trying to ensure that stability is not sacrificed for the sake of change. I think there are a lot of folks here who are in the same position. I believe this will be a pivotal year for Homecoming, and CoH in general. We will likely see some major things happening. But, they won't happen on anyone's timeline. Like most things in business, they will happen when they can, and not a moment sooner.

Be sure to report it using the system the Devs created for just that kind of thing. It's the only way they can keep track of issues, and know if they are dealing with trends, or anomalies.

I'm gonna have to jump on some red-side content soon. I think the only reason I haven't is because most of the folks who comprise my SG have stopped playing again, and I don't like to solo a lot. Add to that the fact that there are so few folks playing Red side, the teaming opportunities are much less frequent.

Welcome home! The donation window typically opens in the morning hours (depending on time zone) of the last Saturday of each month. The announcement is typically made on their Discord, and this forum. So, on the 25th of January, just watch those sources for the opening of the window, and jump in! As for re-learning the game, you'll be not only surprised by how much you remember, but by how many of the subtleties you have forgotten. But, there are guides in this forum, and Paragon Wiki is still out there for the rest (a link for it is right at the very top of this forum page). Plus, if you have a question, feel free to ask here, or in Discord, or both. Personally, I found it a nostalgic, and serendipitous to just jump in, re-create some of my mains from live, and do some missions, and street sweeping. I remembered a bunch of things just doing that, but Paragon Wiki, and asking questions helped fill in the blanks. It was a labor of love to re-learn this game, and get my first character to L50, and all of the Incarnate powers. It continues to be that way, and is currently the only game I play, or have any interest in playing.

The Devs didn't say it. They likely never would. But, I did. And all I'm saying is the majority of problems that I have seen reported in the forums, seemed to lie in the computers running the game, as opposed to the game client. And since I'm nobody, if someone wants to be mad a me for saying so, that's fine. But, folks have to realize the difference. Using the system that the devs have established (rather than posting them in the forum threads) will help that happen, but the Devs can't be expected to solve every problem, on every computer running the game. Some of them will be unsolvable. By the same token, people can't expect the devs to change the game client because someone doesn't keep their computer up to date, or has other things running on their system that conflict with the game. As you mentioned, the player base for this iteration of the game is not as large as it once was, or as big as other games out there. But, the breadth of hardware, and operating systems that folks are using to play it with represents all 15 years that the game has existed. That's a lot to support, and there will have to be a line drawn if there is ever to be a hope to move things forward. They will do their best to solve problems that can justifiably require changes to the client, but I suspect that more often than not, it will be a matter of troubleshooting a localized issue instead. I want to see everyone who wants to play, be able to play, and obviously so do they. But, the truth is, when they finally draw the line, and move off the decade+ legacy support, there will be some problems that just can't be solved, which, while regrettable, is inevitable. They are bending over backwards to help, and that seems to get lost in the cacophony of reported problems.

This is fantastic! Thanks!

Agreed! They are trying their level best to make sure that as few players get left behind as possible. It's more than most Dev teams would even attempt, and a rarity in the industry these days. They are to be commended.

Come on folks. Help these guys help you! Work the process, and in most cases, the problem can be solved. From what I've seen, most issues seem to be tied to how the game client was originally installed, or conflicts with drivers and other things running on users computers, as opposed to problems with the game client itself. That means that they are helping you solve issues on your device, which is really generous of them. They really want everyone to be able to play the game, but they need your feedback using the prescribed process to do it.

Welcome back! Things are pretty much as you remember them. Maybe a little better. But, while you might think it's all a dream, it's not! You're really here!

You might find an answer here If not, you can ask the question directly, and likely get a specific response.

If test/beta works, then it follows that the system is capable of running the live client as well. I wonder if renaming the folder, redownloading Tequila, and letting it re-install the game files from scratch might not be a positive step? Basically starting from scratch. Since your character information is all stored server-side, you won't lose any progress, or characters. If you have stored costumes, power profiles, or option config files, those are local, but they can always be moved back once you get the game working.

But, what a joyful task if ever there was one! At least, that's how I felt back in April/May, when all this first started. 😎

I have been in the IT industry for a long time, and I have never seen even the most well planned, well executed changes work for everyone without some extra effort. These guys are asking folks to use the system, to help them identify problems while there are still alternative environments to play in, while they are being solved. They are being quite accommodating. Probably more so than a game company would be. They started talking about this months ago, and it sounds like it could still be a couple of months (or more) before they finally draw the line, and move past safe-mode support. So, there is still time to figure out issues. However, folks gotta keep expectations real. This is not a group of corporate developers who make their primary living doing this. They are a group of skilled volunteers, who love this game, and provide all of this for free in their spare time. Sure, there are those of us who donate funds to their cause regularly, but its not required of all players. So, expecting them to solve every issue that everyone has on their personal systems likely isn't realistic. Folks use their computers for a lot of things other than CoH, and they don't always keep them up to date, get rid of unused or outdated drives, or make sure their systems are even running well in general. They just turn them on, and if they get to a browser, they figure it works well enough, until they try to use it for CoH. It's not an accusation on my part, or a failing on their part. It's just a fact of computer life. However, these overworked Devs can't be responsible for every problem that folks personal equipment has that affect game play. Let's face it. The fact that the game has been playable on 10-15 year old computers has been nice, but if any real change was going to be made, it couldn't remain that backward compatible forever. Nobody expects EVERYONE to be a tech-head to work on their own machine to make sure that the machine itself is not the cause of their problems. But, by the same token, expecting the Devs to solve the ills of any/all systems that folks use for CoH isn't realistic either. In the end, I have no doubt they will do their level best to solve the problems that are solvable, providing folks use the system, and give them the chance. But, it's not going to work for everyone, because there are a myriad of problems that already exist on systems which prevent play, but keeps the computer doing whatever the owner needs it to do outside of CoH. Sometimes, fixing the CoH problem could actually break it's ability to do the other things they primarily use the system to do, and they can't be held responsible for that either.

Did CoH dominate that one too, or did the word not get out soon enough? 😉

And Paragon Chat is a CoH simulator where you can interact with others there, and badge hunt. But, not much else.

I'm surprised the voting is still open, but it seems like the CoH lead is probably insurmountable at this point.

Giving up the quest for the old database is probably one of the reasons why this reborn iteration of the game has managed to avoid any legal actions...at least so far. If true, then it would be counter productive to pursue it. Pondering the possibilities, I don't see what the individual player would gain, that they haven't already achieved again in the months since the game came back, to varying degrees. I had almost 30 L50 characters. Now, I have 4, with others working their way up. The P2W vendor gives me most everything that the Veteran's system did, so I'm fine with having started again. It's allowed me to appreciate things that, quite honestly, I had begun taking for granted by the time the shut-down occurred.

The Devs are asking folks to use the process, report problems, and work with them to get the issues solved, so the transition (whenever it happens) can work for as many people as possible. None of them want to intentionally exclude anyone from playing. But, it seems that by having the safe mode client out there, folks with problems typically just started defaulting to that, rather than working as hard as they could to solve the base problems. They (the Devs) have made it clear that they want to help. But, they can't do it if they are not given the chance to do so. We also have to start getting more realistic about what problems we are throwing at them. I've seen folks say they are still using pretty old versions of their preferred OS, and expecting things to work the same as on a more modern, fully patched system. It's a little unrealistic. Folks do what they do for reasons of their own. But, if they can't update, eventually support begins to fall away. That's the way of things in all sectors of the computer industry, and it's what would have happened if CoH had not shut-down, and continued to develop. Progress can't be held up indefinitely, and eventually, things must move on in order to provide for future development. It's been stated that there is a lot of change that can't be pursued as long as legacy support continues. So, please...for the sake of all. Folks with issues, please work diligently with the Devs to help solve problems, and try to refrain from accusing them of exclusionary behavior, or just resigning yourself to not being able to play when the progression of the game client necessitates moving on from legacy versions. We all stand to benefit from what comes next. So, let's help them get us all there!

Welcome home old boy! Everything is just as you left it. Perhaps a little better. See ya around Paragon City, and the Rogue Isles! 😎

It's unfortunate, but true. In the absence of fact, innuendo, assumption will attempt to fill the void. The only real fact we have, beyond the fact that we are playing and doing quite nicely (thank you), is that we don't know exactly what's going on, and that's how it will be until someone can fill us in without legal penalty. Before that, you can ask, request, demand, and jump up and down until you get your way. But, nothing is going to happen, until it can. Not a moment sooner. So, play, have fun, and keep a weather eye on the horizon.

I haven’t seen any indication of mass panic, but there has always been a pall of fear, right beneath the surface since the game returned; hoping for the best, but expecting the worst, because NCSoft was involved. Things like this tend to shoot straight to that fear until otherwise assured there is no cause for concern. Not sure if we will get that, or not. But, I’m hoping folks will simply bear it in mind, and keep on doing what they are doing with regards to the game.

They probably do, but might not be able to for legal reasons. Since their talks are likely bound by NDA, it would probably be tough to say anything official without crossing into that territory.

I suspect that is what’s going on as well, but my optimistic appraisal of the situation is just that, and currently unsubstantiated. That puts my outlook at the same level as the doomsayers for accuracy. The big difference is, my words don’t make folks want to run for the hills unnecessarily. 😉

There are already those that are spreading the fear factor, as if they know what’s actually going on with 100% certainty. Don’t allow yourself to fall into that mindset. Nothing has actually changed yet, and when it does, hopefully it’s for the better. Not the worse. Until we get some kind of official word from those who actually do know something, just keep on playing! 😎

I'd say Valiance Online, Ship of Heroes, and the other "CoH Successor" basically proved how hard it is to get something off the group from scratch, even if they too were building on the best elements of a previous game. Some have gotten further than others, but it will be quite some time before any of them have something in Beta, and then again, live.