FoulVileTerror

You can monitor it, actually, with the "/showfps 2" and "/showfps 3" commands. You can disable that display again with "/showfps 0" or by shutting down and restarting the client program. Of course, you will also get all kinds of other data, which can be messy and unnecessary . . . so a dedicated "/showloc" command would be a delightful addition!

If we get to the point where that can be done, it would be wonderful to also look at some alternative themes to the Traps as well. Like gris-gris and totems for Magic, or biological organs and polyps for Mutant and Science. Keep the current version as Low Tech, and then stuff like the above image as High Tech, and maybe do a Steampunk theme too. And mercifully, the mostly-static animations for these 3D assets suggests they'll be less painful to implement.

Alternatively or in addition to the above, turning it in to a Heal Over Time might also make it worthwhile.

Who -wouldn't- be interested in that? GIMME! (please, thank you, and if you're willing to share)

I don't think we ever even got an answer in the AMAs on what they'd do exactly. As for Homecoming's plans for those? I imagine they're only at the cocktail napkin phase right now. We probably have a very long way to go before the next one hits. Sorry that I don't have anything more solid for you.

No. Of course it's not pizza. Did you miss the part about people spilling beans? Who puts -beans- on a pizza?

I mean, Ctrl+F5 was a thing back in, like IE6 or earlier, at the very least. I had just been under the impression that most other browsers adopted the command as well based on my terrible memory.

Does refreshing do you any good? Not sure which browser you are on, but try Ctrl+F5

The rule system -does- play in to the setting, significantly. I wouldn't recommend someone play a sunshine and gumdrops style setting with the Dark Heresy rules, for example. Likewise, I wouldn't recommend the rules for All The Little Things to someone looking to play a game set in a grim and dark far future where there is only War, Madness, and Corruption. I mean . . . you could, in either case. You'd just be getting some rather dissonant gameplay compared to your setting's themes. And hell! Sometimes that's what you want. But absolutely 100%; the gameplay DOES matter to the setting.

The question of "are player-Villains in Blueside zones going to be apparent to Heroes in any way" is an excellent one to pose! It would fundamentally shape what sorts of problems we would face, and which solutions would address it. Conversely, it might end up being the other way around. We might establish the expectations and parameters, and then decide "ok, Villains in Bluezones should have a purple border if they're selected, but otherwise Hero players won't know" OR "any time a Villain player enters the zone, all Heroes receive a warning!" Figuring that sort of thing out is part of the design and development process. Likewise for whether or not Villains would be able to join teams. In the proposal I wrote up for the massive Redside Weekly Discussion a few months back, I suggested: No. But that doesn't mean that's ultimately the decision that would be made in the end. In a lot of ways, now more than ever, this game has the potential for -more.- If the Homecoming Team took on the position of directors, rather than mere codemonkeys (apologies for the term, but just trying to use some shorthand here), and delegate the work to the talented and dedicated fans of this game, then I think these sorts of things could be tackled in record time! Not at first, of course. We'd need to start small, get the kinks worked out, get some proof-of-concept going . . . but eventually? Having seen what opensource projects are capable of, and what player-made mods are like for other games? The potential is real! We just need the focus to tap in to it. The talent IS there, even if it's largely raw still.

Hmm . . . an interesting solution, @Saiyajinzoningen So, what? Make it a Toggle which has a short Cooldown, BUT applies a self-Debuff to the Player which lasts roughly as long as the desired Recharge Time. For the first 60 seconds, the Phantom Army cost an amount of Endurance per tick which would balance out to roughly the same cost of summoning them. But then after those 60 seconds are up, the Endurance cost continues to ramp up every 10 seconds, until . . . well, whatever we figure is a good balanace. (Would have to disable Rest during this, or have Rest cancel that Phantom Army Toggle.) Then the self-Debuff would eventually fade and the Phantom Army Toggle would revert to its original cost. Probably a bit intensive for whoever needs to code it, and I'm not sure it would necessarily address the purported problem nor pass scrutiny for balance . . . but I do like the outside-the-box thinking of it!

You should check out @Piecemeal's posts, @Sakai.

Yeah, but this idea usually comes up explicitly because people WANT to do villainous content in Blueside zones. Probably some people want to do heroic content in Redside zones too, but . . . welllllll . . . those people are less vocal, if they even exist. The point is that if/when we DO get the opportunity to be "bad guys" in the "good place," it pays to have hashed out the mechanical and narrative functionality of it all. Just straight up removing the Alignment barriers is a valid possibility, but there are players who would feel that would be too much of a betrayal/departure from the established norm. So, if we're looking to avoid running roughshod over those players (again) when/if there -is- some reason to allow Villains Blueside, it's a good idea to talk it through.

There's something ridiculously large in the works right now, but it's in Closed Beta. The people who keep spilling beans about it are implying that it's close to fully baked, so we'll see in a few weeks if they were accurate with their predictions.

. . . honestly . . . "xX-Hunter-Hobo-GodXx" was probably Blueside to begin with . . . But, yeah. The thing is . . . a Rogue isn't QUITE a Villain mechanically speaking, and definitely isn't narratively speaking. So, while many of us make concessions right now as players to hand-wave away that player-characters who are self-described as truly villainous can play as any of the four Alignments without any substantial impact to the gameplay, and we're all just playing make-believe . . . there IS something to be said about the appeal for some to be playing within a narratively cohesive setting. I like me some narrative cohesion, boy howdy! I wouldn't want that to take away other players' option to just hit up Null, of course. And so, within the context of a true-red dyed-in-the-wool Villain player-character, narratively and gameplay-mechanic-approved, walking around in Kings Row . . . well, that's what this thread and my own are attempting to address. The possibility of having Heroes and Villains (not Vigilantes and Rogues) crossing over. And yes, we get it that for a lot of the players out there, there's no functional difference to them. But there is to other players, and it's enough to be one of the core aspects of the entire game experience for these players. There are, of course, other methods to try and achieve this same objective. Such as making a narrative justification in the form of forged FBSA heroing license / Arachnos registration; but the game itself is still ludonarratively dissonant in that respect. Hell, the game is ludonarratively dissonant in a LOT of respects. As I said in the other thread, I personally wouldn't be too bothered if we -did- just open the floodgates and let everyone go wherever they please. Hell, getting rid of the Level Gates is one of my number one desires for this game! But I'm definitely going to do my best to respect that it's not quite good enough for other players. I would like to see if we can't find a way to make those players content, if not outright happy, while also not stepping on the toes of others.

Although, Coyote, you said you play Rogues, right? I'm not suggesting Rogues get Ambushers on them. Just the dyed-in-the-wool Villains. And only when they are determined to stay as a Villain while in Paragon City. Operating under the assumption that Villainous Contacts were added to Blueside, a Rogue would still be able to use those Contacts just as they do in Redside Zones, but without any threat of Ambush. I'm guessing I failed to fully articulate that.

I know you and I don't see eye-to-eye on quite a few things, @Greycat, but . . . it absolutely can not be emphasized enough that: Yes. Alignment DOES matter, because it matters to some players. People may be able to argue about the degree to which it matters comparably, but it's a significant part of the narrative in this game. And while I won't try to take the game away from anyone who just wants to watch numbers, I do hope those same players will extend to us the opportunity to add greater depth to the narrative aspect of this setting, and how we interact with it.

The nature of City of Heroes is that it appeals to some very broadly different perspectives. "It's just a game" is certainly one with a lot of strong support, but even then, the hows and whys of gaming and play are deeply subjective. Some players thrive under restrictions, while others (including myself) prefer variety and options galore. And then when it comes to the narrative, we have die-hard conservatives spouting the "but comic books" mantra, while others see the setting as having immensely more depth to be plumbed. I believe it's important to try and strike a balance to meet these extremes, but doing so without their direct input would be unproductive. Naturally, nothing is going to be lauded by everyone as perfect . . . but that is absolutely no excuse not to make strides toward meeting the desires and expectations of those various perspectives.

This is meant to be a theoretical bit of practice operating on the assumption that Null the Gull was either removed, or that Hero Contacts were added to Redside and Villain Contacts to Blueside to appeal to a form of gameplay which has (at least according to user posting habits) pretty substantial appeal to vocal players. I have no illusions about this happening, let alone any time soon. But it doesn't hurt anyone to contemplate the depth of the idea and seek means of improving upon it. We can function as a community to harness creative thinking for problem solving. Because even if this exact idea with these exact requirements doesn't come to exist, the exercise of designing it is helpful for related developments in the game.

. . . then why is the hatch wheel on the -inside-?!

You feel this is too punishing? Based on your reply in the other thread, is it correct to figure that you'd like to have unlimited access despite any kind of narrative function of Hero or Villain Alignments? I could personally be happy with that being the case too, but I don't see it as particularly likely. Given the feelings that other players have in opposition to that stance, I'm trying to strike a compromise to give everyone a little something to meet their needs and interests here. Would you perhaps be able to offer any kinds of alternatives to alleviate the punishment you describe? I always like to work on these as collective tasks, where we all pitch in to make something that can have broad appeal and maintain functional objectives.

Flagging appropriate doors would be one of the many aspects to development of this sort of content. Ideally no mission would ever put you in range of a Police Drone or Trainer while invading a zone.

What's my breaking point before rerolling a character which doesn't fit my initial concept plans? With 1000 character slots per Shard per free unlimited account? A stiff breeze. Of course I never delete a character. Just rename 'em, and plan to come back to them eventually when I come up with a concept which -does- fit that Combination.

I had it at 90 seconds in my first version, but then wrote the caveat about beating the ambush in 5 seconds. 85 seconds seems like a pretty long grace period. . . . but maybe that's worth investigating further. Start at 90 seconds, then every subsequent Flagged status reduces the grace period by 15 Seconds, to a minimum of 45 Seconds. In addition to, or in lieu of, perhaps Ambushers should gain +1 Level for each time you are Flagged. Basically up the ante each time. Both of these would reset when you spend X amount of time back in your own territory. Maybe . . . 5 minutes? So the invader can't just simply jump back to the Isles/Paragon, then return to Paragon/the Isles and have a fresh rap sheet. The other problem I am seeing if players intentionally Malefactoring/Exemplaring themselves, and then dropping that when the Ambushers come looking for them. To that end, perhaps these Ambushers should always be levelless "invasion" enemies? But then, of course of course, we run in to the issue that level 5 Arachnos/Longbow are NOT the same as level 45 Arachnos/Longbow, regardless of what level they're conning at. It's definitely a wrinkle that would need to be resolved, or at least carefully weighed out before committing to either possibility.

Damnit @Greycat! You beat me to it. Oh well. Here's my proposal: https://forums.homecomingservers.com/topic/22335-consideration-of-report-incursion-feature-in-theoretical-unrestricted-access-by-alignment-game/