Abraxus

That's right where I am!

Cudos, and well said Skyeye! Like you, I have been playing this game since the earliest days, and like you, I have more days behind than ahead. I don't have time, nor inclination to get embroiled in debates about things that should just be common sense. I'm here to play the game I love, having been given a rare second chance to do so, and converse with the folks who love it too. That doesn't mean I think it's perfect, and needs no change, or improvement. Just means I trust the Devs to take care of the game, since they have taken on the mantel of being it's heart and soul, and that I have the ability to play what I like, and avoid what isn't fun for me. The choices are so wide and varied, there is something for most anyone in this 8 years of content.

We all want our particular builds, whether they be damage, control, support, or a mixture of one or all of the above; to be the best they can be, even if it might not be absolutely necessary in all situations. I find on large teams with a lot of damage, any damage I might do with my Emp/Psi defender is nothing more than a blip on the radar, while the heals/buffs are not as necessary because the team typically tears through most opposition so fast that hardly any damage is done to them. So, I tend to feel a little redundant. However, on smaller teams, I find that the EMP skills have a lot more impact, and the damage I can do still really does not amount to anything significant. I will probably take more from my secondary later on (he is currently only L20), but right now, he is still in what I consider the "building phase", where I am laying down the foundations for what he will become in his 30s, and 40s. By the time he gets to 32, or so, he will have more from secondary. But, right now, I see other things as more important. Of course, that is MY play style, with this character. I don't expect everyone to agree, or emulate. It's what I am doing, and what works for me, and the folks I play with most frequently. So long as I am allowed to do so without undue criticism, everything is good!

I have no issue with that, so long as they don't take away the choices to grab veteran/subscriber gear. Some don't like it, because they say it is another one of those things that makes the game too easy. Especially, at the formative levels. Personally, I see it as a choice you can make to take the gear, or not take the gear. If you want to tough it out with 1 or 2 powers in the first few levels, great! If not, you don't have to. I'm all about offering more choices, as opposed to taking anything away that some don't like. IMHO, everyone playing has the ability to make the game as tough, or as easy as they like, based on their preferences, their skill level, and their available time to play. So long as the choices we have remain, I don't mind seeing more ways to customize our experience. Did you post that in the thread(s) marked for suggestions/improvements?

Thanks for everything you do!

Opinions are fine, as are complaints, so long as they are positive in presentation, valid in content, and placed in the appropriate area of the forum. There are sections for reporting bugs, and making content suggestions, so please put them there so that I can see all of them in the right place (as can the Devs), without having to peruse every thread to collate the information. If you are posting a complaint about flagrant violations of rules, great. If you want to complain that the game is not as good as it could be, because of how other people play, which you don't like...well perhaps not the best use of your time. If you have an opinion, or a suggestion, express them courteously, honestly, and with no expectation of forum-wide approval, or validation. If you are doing it for any of those reasons, it will inevitably end in disappointment, or dismay for the poster, or the folks who read it. If you do so with the expectation that anyone who disagrees is less informed, or less intelligent because they don't agree with you, nothing good will come from such a discussion. We have already seen it often around these forums, and it typically ends in someone storming off in a huff, or best case scenario, just agreeing to disagree.

I'm sure the homecoming team would completely disagree with you. Do you think they are done after the first release, will just ignore bugs, balance issues, and everything else? Do you think they are going to leave things as they are now and just say: 'Screw it. It's good enough. This is our home. The players don't mean anything we'll just ignore everybody, even people with valid suggestions.' I don't think so. Expect some major patches. My attack wasn't aimed towards the awesome team working on this, it was towards YOU, and the ho-humming ridiculous notion that just because they revived a dead game they are going to stop there. That this world is perfect now because said dead game is back. We can all just breathe deep and accept the bugs and brute overlords and leave every other AT in the garbage. You, my good sir, are the epitome of SLOTH. Go ahead and pull out your Porky Pig mask and tell people: 'that's all folks!' If that's what you got out of everything I have been saying since the very beginning, then you are so wrapped up in your own little bubble of reality, that you read into it what you wanted. I never said they would not be changing things, or even that some things didn't need to be fixed. I look forward to everything coming down the road. I have total faith in their ability to take the game in fun directions. My whole point is that, while I have faith these things will happen, and am perfectly willing to wait for it to be done the right way. I am in no rush, because there is no need to be. There is so much to enjoy about the game, that I don't dwell on the things that might need some changing/tweeking. I just keep playing, and having fun, in anticipation of the next great thing coming our way. But, I don't, or condone those that do, resort to complaining about minutiae that waits for fixing, or bang the table for big changes to come my way. In other words, I'm not in it for the short term. I'm in it for the long haul, just like I was during the original 8 years I played it when it was live. So, take your "attacks" no matter whom they are aimed at, and go elsewhere with them. I have no interest, and refuse to validate any of your entitle perspective on this game. Feel free to head over to the Cox/g environment where other trolls gather. Backed ME into a corner? You give yourself FAR too much credit sir. I appreciate you standing up for yourself. *extends a hand* That is all that I am saying. This server is great, but there are things that need addressed. *hand accepted as a handshake, rather than any attempt to require being lifted from the ground* The Homecoming team is great. The game is great, and deserving of every improvement, and update that the Homecoming team will give it in the future. I look forward to all of it. Apparently, in these things we agree. As for standing up for myself, never mistake my civility with the reticence to aggressively defend myself, as weakness. I can assure you that is not the case. If I didn't know how beforehand, my time in the Marine Corps (likely before you were even born) opened my eyes to a lot of the unpleasant truths of the world. So debating over a game is not something I typically feel the need to go the the extremes to engage, or defend. No denigration intended. Just the truth of the matter.

I'm sure the homecoming team would completely disagree with you. Do you think they are done after the first release, will just ignore bugs, balance issues, and everything else? Do you think they are going to leave things as they are now and just say: 'Screw it. It's good enough. This is our home. The players don't mean anything we'll just ignore everybody, even people with valid suggestions.' I don't think so. Expect some major patches. My attack wasn't aimed towards the awesome team working on this, it was towards YOU, and the ho-humming ridiculous notion that just because they revived a dead game they are going to stop there. That this world is perfect now because said dead game is back. We can all just breathe deep and accept the bugs and brute overlords and leave every other AT in the garbage. You, my good sir, are the epitome of SLOTH. Go ahead and pull out your Porky Pig mask and tell people: 'that's all folks!' If that's what you got out of everything I have been saying since the very beginning, then you are so wrapped up in your own little bubble of reality, that you read into it what you wanted. I never said they would not be changing things, or even that some things didn't need to be fixed. I look forward to everything coming down the road. I have total faith in their ability to take the game in fun directions. My whole point is that, while I have faith these things will happen, and am perfectly willing to wait for it to be done the right way. I am in no rush, because there is no need to be. There is so much to enjoy about the game, that I don't dwell on the things that might need some changing/tweeking. I just keep playing, and having fun, in anticipation of the next great thing coming our way. But, I don't, or condone those that do, resort to complaining about minutiae that waits for fixing, or bang the table for big changes to come my way. In other words, I'm not in it for the short term. I'm in it for the long haul, just like I was during the original 8 years I played it when it was live. So, take your "attacks" no matter whom they are aimed at, and go elsewhere with them. I have no interest, and refuse to validate any of your entitle perspective on this game. Feel free to head over to the Cox/g environment where other trolls gather. Beat ME into a corner? You too easily impress yourself, and give yourself FAR too much credit sir.

Yup! 1. Homecoming = NOT NCSoft. 2. Homecoming = Offers game for no cost, unless you choose to donate. 3. Homecoming = No obligation to anyone. Do they want to improve things? Of course they do. Will what they plan to do ever happen as fast as all players want it to? Of course it won't. Will those changes affect the exact parts of the game that every player sees as THE huge problem with the game? No, it absolutely won't. Will those unhappy players stick around and complain about that, rather than have some patience to see how things develop over the course of a year, as opposed to just two months it's been back in existence? Most likely. Does the Homecoming team, just perhaps, have some insight into the game that regular players are blissfully ignorant of, and that they have to look at things globally, taking into account balance issues, and game mechanics across the board; rather than doing what's popular? Yeah, I think so. Will the aforementioned unhappy players be willing to pitch into the effort, rather than waiting for it to happen, and complaining when the changes made are not the ones they consider to be the bane of the game? Typically their nature is to wait for others to do things for them, and complain about the results. But, I'd love to be proven wrong on that one. Historically speaking though, the odds are against it.

So go and 'address' them? No one is stopping you, the code is out there. While you might be 'seriously tired' that people are grateful to be able to play over whining about pedantic minutiae, I am 'seriously tired' of the entitled attitude of people like you that call for _others_ to do your bidding while not lifting a finger, other than to type out condescending BS. So, you want it 'fixed'? Go fix it, big guy! Absolutely in agreement here! If he thinks the game is just so broken that his experience playing is no longer fun, then he should pick-up a keyboard, join the dev team, and start working on fixing it himself, instead of complaining that others are not giving him what he wants quickly enough.

I am seriously tired of this bullshit excuse to not fix parts of the game. "Oh I'm just glad that City of Heroes is back. Warts and all." Dude, that was like forever ago. That horse is dead and the shock of the game being back is gone too. So absolutely YES, It's best to move on and fix shit that's broken and rebalance everything. You don't just stop and smell the roses in game development and think that things will fix themselves. There are multitudes of problems that need addressed right now. Entitled much? There is absolutely NOTHING these devs owe you, or anyone else. They are already giving of their time, and resources to bring back a game that was DEAD! If you don't like the way it is, and don't have enough faith that once things get into more of a groove, that more changes will come, then perhaps this isn't the place, or the game for you. We are two months in, which is an infinitesimal amount of time on the whole; and in my experience, they have already accomplished miracles on our behalf in that time for nothing more than their love of the game. You obviously don't share that sentiment, which is fine. But, you seem to feel the need to inflict your take on things on the rest of us (who coincidentally make up the vast majority of players here), who are overjoyed with the way things are, and do have faith in the future of the Homecoming project, and the game itself. We also have faith that things we might feel need attention, will get it when more important things have been addressed. In the meantime, we are having an absolute blast playing the game, and appreciating what we have been given. I have no issue with dissenting opinions, except when they attempt to classify everyone else's as moronic, or deluded, because they don't see things as you do. When it crosses that line, my respect for your point of view falls to the point of total disregard.

Yup. It's been tried before, by different teams, using different approaches...ALL under NDA mind you, so we never got any of the details. Not even when the efforts failed. So, quite the frustrating experience each time, until enough time passed for folks to just presume it dead, and a little more hope died with it. Then, last April, news broke of the shadow server, and everything literally exploded from there, to where we are right now. I don't know what might be going on behind the scenes, but I'm playing my game again, and as long as that isn't being threatened in any meaningful way, I am content to let these things go on as they will, until we have a permanent solution.

I have 12 heroes, and 2 villains. They range from level 1 to 40. I love playing them all, but there is one (the highest one) that I have really been digging lately, so I have concentrated most of my play time on that one, in an effort to make sure that everyone else will be well funded when they come out of the bullpen. That one was never intended to be the lead character, but I found myself really liking the powerset combination, and how powerful they feel when playing. Even in large groups. I had 25 toons at level 50 when the original came to an end, and a good number of them have been re-created here, and will eventually all get their time to run through the adventures (and levels). I'm just so happy to have the chance to do so again!

I am on the 4-Chan Discord, and one of the derogatory comments I find amusing is how the "LEO-IZED" I25 code has powersets that were never supposed to exist, and imply what an abomination that makes the whole thing. If we went by that thinking, ever new powerset introduction, and power proliferation done since Issue 1 would be viewed in the same light. The game evolved a little in the 7 years that it was running in the SCORE environment, and I personally believe that we have all benefited greatly from those changes, and the existence of the SCORE server itself. Without that, we absolutely would not have our game back at this moment. I'm not sure why I stay associated to that Discord, when it seethes with hatred for Homecoming, and Leo in particular. I guess because I believe you can't just ignore opposing views. Best to know what they are, so you can make informed decisions on why you don't believe as they do.

Sounds like fun!

There really is nothing further to add. The changes were made, some adjustments were made after that to make it closer to what was intended in the original patch. That's the bottom line, and it is the reality of things. All folks have to do, is decide if they themselves wish to play here under those terms. If not, there are choices that did not exist during the original run to find place to play where the situation is more to your liking. If you do like being here, we should be concerned with nobody's play style, other than our own, unless someone else's infringes upon yours in some tangible way. Complaining about how others choose to play, under the terms given, accomplishes nothing. Just enjoy the game folks! Is it perfect? No. Is anything? NO! I for one love the game being back, and I accept it as it is, warts and all. I consider that vastly superior to lamenting it's shut down, and longing for it's return. Now that it has, I have no complaints, with the possible exception of not being able to play as often, and for as long as I wish. Because I would be spending a LOT more time in-game if circumstances allowed.

I had never heard about it until yesterday, so when I did, I voted for Homecoming. I'm sure many others playing here had not heard about it either. It seems like something intentionally designed to make it look like Homecoming is actually the least popular, to persuade new players who wouldn't know better to go other servers instead. If so, I don't care for the tactic, and hopefully anyone who falls for it will realize the truth fairly quick.

Love my Earth/Earth Dom! She is recreated from her former self in the live game, and she is just as fun these years later! She is currently level 40, and while only using SOs at the moment, she feels pretty powerful! In fact, she was never meant to be my lead character (first to 50), but it has certainly worked out that way. Love the powers, and the sound effects. It SOUNDS powerful!

I like it! I'll try to be there!

I've been watching the numbers, and it seems that Excelsior has consistently been more heavily populated over at least the past week, than Torchbearer, which was surprising. Torchbearer was always the most populated since the second iteration of the re-launch. I guess the availability of character transfers has finally had the effect of evening things out.

We can sit around and fret about the big boogie man NCSoft, or we can enjoy playing the game we all missed so much. I have, as much as I possibly can. I am making long term plans with all of my characters, and I will continue to do so until I have a solid reason not to. If the worst happens, I know two people personally, who are running private servers. So, if the end comes again, I will be playing. Just having to start again. I could deal with that, if it meant never having to worry about moving again. I can only hope that work on tools that allow for character data to be saved, and transported between servers becomes available soon, so that we won't ever even have to worry about starting over again either.

There is nothing about this game that I hate. I loved it when it was live, I pined for it in the 7 years it was gone, and I rejoice now that it is back. However, I will say that there are certainly aspects of maps, and a few other things that I feel myself dreading, or loathing. But, I LOVE that I have the privilege of loathing them once again!

I remember a team of RAD defenders, and controllers with my SG mates being a total wrecking machine, powering through everything we did. Was it boring being so powerful? No, not at all. Because without any kind of Tank, or melee to take alpha strikes, or keep aggro if something went wrong, this team of squishies always ran the risk of team wipes if we didn't all follow the plan, and work together. That was the fun of it. Now, we are making plans to bring them back for another round, as soon as we can find some of our old friends, and get the band back together...so to speak.

I hate the Discord website/PC interface quite intensely. No idea if it's any easier to use on an 'app'. I think it is, but your mileage may vary.

Actually, Discord gives the admins the ability to pin important posts, so they are always easy to find. It's just a matter of them doing it, and you finding them to be helpful/informative. The other thing Discord offers that forums don't, is built-in voice connectivity. Makes it easy to coordinate play times, and get on a voice channel, all in one. I know there are other ways of doing it, but the group I play with has their own Discord channel, so we chat there, and use the voice services during play. It works out well once folks get all of the audio stuff working.