Abraxus

Different...but interesting. I shall endeavor to get to know this new format better.

What the heck, I'll give it a shot!

Yup! Educate, as opposed to berate. 8)

I have been quite fortunate on Torchbearer. I have encountered nothing but friendly, though not always overly talkative, folks when teaming. I haven't been subject to any bad behavior, and folks seem more than ready to help if someone asks. As this is the only server I have played on since it went live, I don't have perspective on the others, but the state of the community from my observations of my little piece of it, are that everything is ok, and that if you are encountering issues, I don't think represents the exception, as opposed to the rule. At least, that is my sincere hope.

I would not have liked CoH turning into CO. Incorporating the better aspects, perhaps. But please don't copy their combat system, or power configuration matrices. Those are part of the many reasons I never played past my initial 3 month subscription, and never went back. Not even in desperation, before the return of CoH.

And in the fullness of time, another generation is born to protect us through mighty deeds, and heroic pursuit, from that which threatens our world....

Any effect on overall frame rate? I'm all for a prettier experience, but if it slows things down to slide-show speeds in a simple 8-man team run, I'd have to think twice before trying it.

In my fantasy world (you know, the one where I am also a lottery winner), the phoenix like rise of this game from its own ashes gets the attention of the RIGHT people who finally see it's potential, who buy up the rights, and fully legitimize the current game while working on City of Heroes 2! I'm sure NCSoft would love to be rid of it for the right price, and someone with the fantasy dollars would offer the right price (whatever that is). Then they would devote some resources to tweaking the current game so it's a little more viable, and attractive to a newer audience, while all the development for the next version is going on. I know, in my dreams. But, then...who would have ever thought we'd be playing the original again, so crazier things have happened. ;D

I think it is somewhat about setting expectations correctly from the jump. The fact that we have this game at all, is nothing short of a miracle. But, if we are going to start expecting the same level of updates, fixes, improvements etc., that we were accustomed to when it was a paid subscription game, then there are those who will be disappointed. As has been stated, these guys are doing this because they love it, and are getting no more reparation than that. IF we do manage to see more updates, it will probably come from the efforts of the non-server specific team (I forget what they are called), that are doing development...though last I heard it was more geared towards getting a clean I24 experience, as opposed to anything beyond. If that happens, and we do get some more toys to play with, I will be even more appreciative than I already am. But, I am already VERY appreciative, so if I don't get something like that, I will keep on enjoying what we have, which is a very mature game, with tons of content, and between Paragon City, the Rogue Isles, and the "Going Rogue" maps (Neutropolis, etc.), there is a lot to do, if one goes down all of those roads. Most don't really look at all that, because they tend to focus on one city, or another, and get tired of doing the same things over, and over again, without ever exploring the other areas. So, I think we literally have it pretty good as is, and I will play for as long as these generous folks want to keep on putting out the effort to keep it alive!

That's assuming, of course, that everyone is in agreement that the latest chapters in the saga are just universally bad. There are some of us who enjoy them, while also acknowledging that they are not quite the same as the Star Wars I grew up with. Doesn't make them inherently bad, just different. :)

Agreed! 8)

Kevin Feige is a pretty smart cookie. Something tells me there has been a plan that went beyond Endgame. How that plan manifests in content fans still flock to in droves, and more importantly, how they adjust (as DC had to do, albeit a little late in the game), will be the real factors in determining the future growth, or lack thereof, in the MCU. There was one change that we saw in Endgame that I didn't care for, but it wasn't a deal breaker.

I guess we'll see now that we're arguably at or past "peak MCU." Let's check back in five years. Well, the last MCU movie is a mere 6 million away from becoming the all-time global box office champ, taking it away from Avatar (if successful). If you look at the top 20, more than half are MCU movies, and DCU movies. So, while they might be at a peak right now, it remains to be seen how they go from here to see if they can maintain the momentum, or if they take in in such new directions that they lose portions of their current following. I suppose some loss is fairly predictable, but I don't believe you'll see wholesale abandonment of the attraction to the superhero movies, or the genre in general. Nothing lasts forever, but if it can be maintained a high levels, there will always be more demand for content of all kinds...games included.

Yup. I agree that in 2004 it could justifiably be classified as niche. But, since 2008, I would say that classification no longer applies. It might not have the collective following in the gaming arena that the fantasy games have, but I think it qualifies as a bit more than it's being given credit for here. As for the lore being largely unknown, well that's true. But, that gets us back to the lackluster marketing, where they should have been hyping the ability to create your own hero, and forge your own legend, rather than imitating one that you already knew. That would have had widespread appeal to anyone remotely interested in superheros.

Superheroes, niche? Box office numbers both domestic, and worldwide for the superhero movies would suggest otherwise. I believe it really does come down to marketing, and reaching those out there who obviously love the genre, but were just unaware that it was a thing. Even today, I'm sure if word of the game's return were more widespread outside of the typical gaming outlets, population on all of the various CoH servers would likely skyrocket.

Oh, it's much more than that. Big Corps provide the basic funds the banks use to create loans. No big corps, no money bags to get loans from, no loans for start ups to work with. Not to mention, Big Corps advocate for specific regulations, usually ones that they can diversify around and smaller businesses cannot. Big Corps are fine so long as there is somewhat of a leash on them. The biggest economic travesties in the past involved big businesses with government interference. Not to belabor a point, but what about when big business (auto industry, and banking industry) were both teetering on the verge of extinction, consequently taking our economy down with them, until the government bailed them out? Does anybody conceive, or accept that the "too big to fail" situation we had then, and coincidentally still do, is a good one? We have crafted ourselves a nightmare where these huge entities have made themselves the necessary evil that they are, and any efforts to even attempt to pull back from that are met with the resistance that such power entails, and painted as "un-American" to the populace, so that we tend to actually side with the entities that care nothing for us. I personally could not imagine a more dangerous, and yet pathetic symbiotic relationship. No easy solutions to be sure. But, this has drifted a bit from the OP subject matter, so I digress. CoH is great for what it is, and WoW is great for what it is. If that is the last comment on this thread, I think it sums the situation up nicely.

Keep in mind that those attributes can be gained via Incarnate powers as part of the endgame experience. I have an Earth/Earth Dominator, who had some mild debuffs, as a secondary to her attack powers. But, when I took the right Incarnate power that incorporated -regen for every attack, well let's just say I am much happier with her offensive capabilities than I was before.

Just a comment: Only 34% of corporate equity is owned by households. Of that 34%, the wealthiest percentiles (90-99.9% of wealth) own 90% of corporate equity that is owned by households. People who rely on SS are in the bottom 50% of wealth and own almost no corporate equity. The 50-90 percentile ownership has dropped by over half since 1989 and continues to drop. Source please? I'm not doubting the statement, but corporate equities could be defined a few different ways. Direct equity ownership is probably right where you are at. But what about indirect, like an annuity, or pension plan? 45% people have a 401K account for retirement, and perhaps many of those shift to bonds at retirement, but not sure if they are being counted either... Regardless, my point is that when the market doesn't gain as much as is expected, and stock prices drop, millionaire/billionaire retirees are no doubt financially impacted the most, but practically, it's all the people who are living on something beyond Soc Sec that can find any kind of an enjoyable retirement permanently destroyed. I want to be clear - I am for Big Corp, it's a reality in this modern, global age. How they are regulated and taxed is where I'll keep quiet... And remember, many start up businesses (not small businesses that serve just a local community), but start ups that want to provide products that lots and lots of people need are hoping more often than not to either go( public one day and put on the big corp pants, or to be bought out by a big corp. Take Big Corp out of the picture and a lot of those startups won't start up...(No Facebook, Twitter, Uber, Lyft, etc) True, without big corp, the little start-ups would have nothing to strive for. The issue for most of them (like Facebook, Twitter, Uber, etc.) is that even IF their motivation in the beginning was doing something that could benefit people, when they make it big, priorities change, and pretty soon the goals are all about the all mighty dollar. Most of them advocate less regulation, because those kinds of things cause them to make less profit, but as soon as you take the handcuffs off, left to their own devices, their worst impulses are realized. In the case of big pharma, big banking, big chemical, they will do heinous things in the pursuit of profit, at the expense of anyone unfortunate enough to be touched by their particular wares, with the mindset that it is cheaper to settle, than to not attempt this way of operating. Yes, they are a necessity, but only because that is the way our economy (as well as that of most of the world) is structured. That doesn't make it right. Just legal. There is a huge difference.

All very true. I guess the things that bug me the most revolve around the fact that, the eternal drive for unrealistic profitability on a quarterly basis forces big corp to do things that are morally questionable, and a lot of times, antithetical to the goal of taking care of those very customers who make those profits a possibility. There are other reasons, but those are among my biggest peeves.

As a wiki, is the point of it to be changeable for relevant information? Perhaps I am misinformed on that one.

Statistically speaking, it might not be the strongest, most damaging power. But, that's not why I pick a powerset when creating a character, and whatever it might lack in the statistics, it more than makes up for in the fun it is to play it. Which is why I play this game in the first place. 8)

I started a DP Blaster on Saturday, and by Sunday, he was L27. He was just so fun to play, I couldn't stop!

Try entering the main building behind the Statesman statue. You can go to the upper floors and actually see out the windows!

I'm always more a fan of evolution to positive change, as opposed to revolution and descent into chaos. The "burn it to the ground, and what rises from the ashes will be better" approach, while sometimes effective, is always painful for the ones caught-up in it.

Suffice to say that the game is a solo friendly as one chooses to make it. If you know the game well enough, and choose a character that can both take damage, and do damage, you will go through the content, and have fun. If you choose an archetype that excels in buff/debuff, or healing others, then you will have made it difficult for yourself, and the inevitable frustration of piles of life debt will become a reality. Some archetypes are initially pretty difficult, until they reach a certain level (like controllers), then they are much more solo friendly. So, you could team until you get to that level, then solo. But, the bottom line is that "solo friendly" does not mean that any archetype will plow through any content with ease. It really means, if you choose well, it is quite solo-friendly. If not, then quite the opposite will be true.