Abraxus

Perhaps as an act of good faith to prove they are serious. Who knows. We won't know the details of these talks until it's a done deal, so no use in speculating. But, this is exactly the kind of thing I would expect NCSoft to insist upon before granting their seal of approval.

I'll put it another way. This might have come up during the negotiations in the manner of "Ummmm...by the way. There was this thing about copyrighted characters/costumes/names, etc., that we are gonna need in place before this can happen. Ya know...legal stuffs and all". Or something to that effect.

Those that have used those kinds of names will find out quickly enough, and I have no doubt they will report back quickly. Then we will start to get an idea of where those kinds of interpretations come down.

Perhaps a preparatory step in the process of becoming a legal server?

Agreed! In total, I believe the degree to which folks are willing to provide assistance here is driven not only by their positive character, but also by their love of this game, and their desire for others who don't understand it as well, to love it too. That can only happen when they gain a level of comfort with the game so as to become more self-sufficient, and hopefully gain the same level of appreciation we share for this game. There is a threshold for every new player, where they go from being totally lost and frustrated, to gaining sufficient understanding of the game to motivate them to know more, rather than give into the despair. The more folks we can help cross that threshold, the more dedicated players join our ranks, rather than giving up, and leaving.

Back in the days of live, when everything was profit-driven, things that were perceived as driving subscriptions would have always been given priority over "under the hood" kinds of improvements. Now that subscriptions, and profit are no longer part of the model, these kinds of things will likely get more attention.

I'm sure they'll get around to improving things on the graphics front. But, there are probably more pressing things that will come first, not the least of which is the whole deal with NCSoft thing, which will have a huge impact on the game, regardless of which way it goes.

Wow! Immortalized in the game I love. I could think of no better lasting memorial for myself! 😎

We are still dealing with a game, whose basic mechanics were built around a "for profit" motive. Things to entice folks to subscribe. We know there is no such thing now, but a lot of those mechanics remain, and the game is pretty much as it was then, in that regard. Now that there is no such thing as subscription, and the game is unlikely to be changed to the extent that the remnants of that era are erased, or even minimized, there apparently will remain folks who believe that going outside of the normal progression through levels is wrong, and the only legitimate way to play is to go through the available content like most others. They believe this so passionately, that they tend show a degree of contempt for those who don't. I don't believe it is pervasive in the player-base of the current game, but it is still a factor. There is an even smaller contingent among them, who feel empowered enough to foist their opinions/preferences of proper game play on others, as we have seen discussion in other threads on that very topic. Their voices are thankfully few, but tend to be the most noticeable because of the impact is has on players subject to it. There isn't much we can do to totally eradicate this issue, outside of reporting it when it does happen. Other than that, play however you feel is most fun in this game, so long as it does not adversely impact someone else's enjoyment of the game! In the words of Mark Twain, "Your right to swing your fist ends, where my nose begins.". I think that applies to many things in life, and certainly in this situation. Folks are free to do as they will, have fun as they will, and interact with other players as they will, until it crosses that line. Just my .02 of a dollar's worth.

It was the first entry back into the CoH world. Next came Paragon Chat, which allowed for the created characters to interact with each other, though there was still no NPCs, and still no enemies/combat. That's what we lived on for quite some time before Homecoming went live in April.

Character creator, and empty cities to take characters out to tour. No NPCs, no enemies, no combat.

It's hard for something like that not to have an effect, and I wish I could help you deal with in in ways that don't just sound like so many platitudes, and cliches. So, I won't go down that road. But, I hope you are able to put it in proper context, and don't let it define, in any way, this game or the majority of its players for you. It is absolutely not an accurate representation. If I had any advice, I'd say block that wretch, and seek out those who are representative of the majority, and a joy to play with! 🙂

Wuh?

Well, this thread was in regards to Tank/Tankers, so I didn't want to go off on a "Healer" tangent. I will just say that when I play a healer, there was a time when I took the "empathy" part of the job a little too literally. I felt bad if I couldn't heal well enough to keep everyone alive, no matter what. Even when the team members made it difficult, or impossible for me to do so. At some point, when speed became the driving factor for the majority of TF runs, and splitting the team to cover more ground presented me with that scenario increasingly more often, I would end up feeling like I failed in the ONE thing this character was built to do. Support the team, and help it to succeed. However, upon further reflection, I resolved myself to the fact that I was being put in positions where even the best healer in the game couldn't keep everyone alive in the scenarios being presented. So, in order to have any fun playing this character, I had to make a decision on how to play him in this new reality. Since following the Tank was no longer the hard, and fast rule it once was for everyone, I decided that would be the figurative line drawn. I would follow the tank, or the player in the tank role, work diligently to keep that player alive, and all those in close enough proximity to them to benefit from my support. I would no longer feel responsible for those that went their own way. They were perfectly free to play however they liked, but to do so was acknowledgment that they considered that pursuit more important than the support I provided, and I would no longer hold myself responsible for them, and so to be a slightly less empathetic empathy healer. Now, I'm much more contented when playing that character.

Then you are surely an enlightened individual, who can recognizes a good "mutual admiration" vibe when they see one. 😉

There are many reasons for the way that folks engage in discourse, and I have my own ideas/theories on the subject. But, articulating to any degree would derail this thread to the point of locking, so I won't go there. Suffice to say that the more passionate a person is on a topic, the more they can feel that opposition is a commentary on them personally. I always endeavor to disagree diplomatically, when having to disagree, and that works for the most part. But, not always. Sometimes, one just has to be the party in a discussion/argument/debate that says "agree to disagree", and politely walks away.

And there ya have it! 🙂

Basically, what I was trying to get across was that, I followed the tank to help him do his job. The others that decided to go their own way (mainly in the interest of saving a little time), and got killed repeatedly, chose their own fate. I was not going to try to split my healing abilities between two disparate groups. I chose the traditional route of following the tank, and kept him, and the main part of the team alive to the best of my ability. I would have preferred to turn the difficulty up a notch, and have the entire team focused, together, and moving forward, but the lower difficulty level convinced some that they could go it on their own, and they paid for that decision repeatedly. Nothing right, or wrong. Not pontificating on anyone's play style. But, if I am a healer on a team, and you decide to split off from the tank, then you're on your own, because I will be where the meat shield is. That's all. However, all that said, if their splitting off in the interest in time was costing the team unnecessary wipes, then I would have had a problem. Hopefully, explains a little better what I was thinking in my post, and restores your high opinion of me (thanks for that BTW).

I was playing my healer last night, on a Moonfire TF. The tank seemed to know what he was doing, and things were going well. Then a couple of missions in, this phenomenon where the team splits into parts, in order to cover ground quicker occurred. As is my custom, I stuck with the tank, and kept him alive with the others that stuck with him. It took a little longer to go through the mobs, be we got through them alive, and well. The same cannot be said for the "beta" team, who were WAY too far away for the healer to do them any good. I saw them go red multiple times on the map, but all I felt was the satisfaction of knowing that I was on the right side of that decision. If the difficulty level were higher, and their folly resulted in all of us being repeatedly wiped as well, I would have felt the need to make the attempt to educate. As it was, we were fine, and they were red, so I let that be their education.

If I remember correctly, the Halloween event was typically live for most of the month of October, and perhaps the first week of November. Since there has been no official talk of the event, I don't know when they plan to make the window, but unless you are only on once in a month's time, you should be able to get in on some ToT action.

I think there is a smaller set of updates being tested on the Pineapple server right now.

When using in-game resources, at worst it's an exploit, at best just utilizing available means. But, purchasing in-game resources from outside the game, using real cash, I believe that's where the line is drawn.

I'd be quite surprised if there weren't. The Halloween event (ToT, Zombie Invasions, Eochai/Jack in Irons etc.), along with the Holiday/Christmas event (Opening glowie presents, and giant frost monster take downs, along with the Baby New Year arc) were some of the highlights of any given year for players back in the "LIVE" days. I'm looking forward to all of that as well!

Oy! 🤥

That's what I was forced to do for 7 years after the shut-down. Now, I much prefer actually playing the game I pined away for, lo those 7 years. 😎