TemporalVileTerror

This feature already exists. Little known commands: /arenalist /ai $target BAM! You are now issuing a challenge to duel another player which you have targeted. Enjoy!

While that much is true and fair, I think it's also fair to remind everyone that a precedent has been set about a vocal outcry from certain individuals regarding gating people out of content related to the Rikti War Zone. Kind of puts a damper on the theoretical altruism of it, yeah? Frankly, I too think it sucks that the impending solution to the problem is presently what I've tested on Beta. Other options exist. I get that the Devs have limited time and resources to address it in a more robust and meaningful way . . . but it still leaves a damned bitter taste in my mouth to see it tackled quite like this.

Probably not, @Beef Ninja. They're probably just masochists.

This discussion about contest/event donation fleecing has given me an idea. I've made a point of listing a public ledger for donations of some of the larger events I've run or been a part of the organizing committee for. Frequently, though, I have people specifically asking to remain anonymous. So! Idea! Hey! Anonymous donors? Offer your donations in unique values. Like 987,543,999. That way the ledger will reflect the precise amount you gave, and you can confirm that it's being added to the tally while remaining anonymous. Since other donors should provide amounts with completely different values, you can collectively monitor the donation ledger to ensure no one is fleecing you. Just be sure to double-check the ledger every so often. Also: Don't donate unless someone is willing to have a ledger for auditing. Just . . . in general. I mean, go ahead and give the poor homeless person on the street corner a $10, but if you're going to drop $5,000 to a charity, make damned sure they're on the up-and-up.

I know I just linked it in the last thread from UAlt, and I initially decided against it in this thread because I had thought it would be a bit redundant, but ... https://forums.homecomingservers.com/topic/19655-weekly-discussion-53-how-to-increase-villain-population/ These arguments and ideas expressed in this thread are all very similar, if not identical, to the ones in that thread. Which were largely the same retreads from earlier in Homecoming's many threads on the subject, which were retreads going all the way back to shortly after Issue 6 was released and there wasn't any initial swell of players joining Redside. The fact that people had to pay for the "expansalone" was probably an initial factor, but beyond that . . . yeah. A lot of people have different reasons. But the reason I personally find the most laughable, even if it -is- true, is "people don't want to be a villain. They want to be a hero!" City of Heroes has generally failed as hard at accurately portraying heroics as City of Villains has failed at portraying villainy. Largely due to the limitations of the production and the engine used, and then perpetuated by a captive audience, we've got to admit that in BOTH cases, players are largely just taking on the roles of violence-disseminating lackeys. There is precious little content which really delivers on anything beyond that. Praetoria continued that metatypical ludonarrative, but did a MUCH better job at keeping it coherent and avoiding dissonance with the gameplay. The addition of choices to switch sociopolitcal factions within Praetoria helped tremendously. City of Heroes (and City of Villains) has always had immense potential to deliver on the idea of playing the role of a hero (or a villain), and having been at least an active observer in the Legacy/Retail forums as well, I can confidently state that players have been offering suggestions on how to tap in to that potential for ages. Many of the ideas were excellent, if their specific implementation would need to be tweaked to fit the limitations of the game. But the gameplay formula for the whole of City remains largely the same. Go to place. Push buttons. Watch humanoid (or occasionally non-humanoid) critters ragdoll on to the floor (or against a wall if you have Knockback). The narrative is largely told -at- us, not with us. We're not making choices that reinforce the heroic or villainous identity. We're on narrative railroads that remove agency, and ultimately deny the possibility of actually exploring Heroics and Villainy in a meaningful way. And there is just enough content already in the game that demonstrates that it doesn't need to be that way. There are some arcs with great writing. There are some missions with great mechanics. Rarely do both bolts of lightning strike in the same place, though. So, my personal theory is that those of us who chose Redside did so for many reasons, just as many as the reasons that people chose Blueside. But . . . one of those reasons is agency. Self-determination. Redside has always made the undelivered promise that we would get to be our own villains, some day. It was part of the initial marketing push for the whole thing. "Villains Act, Heroes React." And yes, I will keep repeating it. It's a damned good market blurb because it's a damn good sentiment. It's worth pursuing. Ultimately, when all the game is equally incapable of delivering on the ludonarrative promise of agency, then yeah. People will default on their choice, and in this game's case, City of Heroes is definitely the default. Hell, it's even coded that way: "Unaligned" characters are just coded as Heroes without the little blue star logo. Personal choice is important, and people have made their choices. If things change, people may make different choices. That's not just for this game, but a part of being alive. Extra Merits will incentivize people who want Merits. It won't change enough of the equation to attract people to play Redside in any terms of sustainable numbers. And really, that's fine. We should probably just lean HARD in to the fact that there are far fewer Redside players than there are Blueside. There's some justifiable narrative for that anyway. Create future Redside content with the knowledge that the people playing it are CHOOSING to play it, and make damned sure you respect that choice. Give the Villains some real villainy to commit. Give the Rogues some opportunities for opportunism. Give the Vigilantes someone to blame for their anger and self-loathing. I am super-late for work now, so proof-reading will have to wait. Buh-bye!

I had tested it with a Rogue-aligned character, and yes. I did not test it with any other alignment, @TraumaTrain.

Related to: https://forums.homecomingservers.com/topic/19014-vampire-the-masquerade-and-bloodlines-too/?tab=comments#comment-277069 Our Monday-night weekly virtual tabletop roleplaying group is going to be losing a player next week, or the week after, and so there's an opening for someone who may be interested in joining us. We've been playing Rogue Trader and Vampire the Masquerade, with an anime-trope campaign being planned by @HunterKid, and myself thinking of revving the ol' Shadowrun back up after that. If anyone would like to learn more about us and how we play, please feel free to get in touch! Message @VileTerror in-game if you want to chat directly, or feel free to post replies in this thread.

Why hasn't https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PGF0MYORADE been posted yet?

Oh! I've been reminded: Twilight Grasp? Use it liberally on Archvillains. Even if your whole team is at full health. Why? To-Hit Debuff AND Regen Debuff

Dark Miasma on Masterminds, Corruptors, and Defenders (or Darkness Affinity for Controls) is probably worth your time to check out. Twilight Grasp is one of the most powerful AoE Heals in the game, but requires an enemy target and a To-Hit check. But, extra bonus, right now it has some odd behaviour where it can actually revive you if you die in the middle of the animation. Not sure if that's a bug, or an (un)intentional feature, but it's fun! Tar Patch is great for giving your teammates a little indirect Damage boost by decreasing your enemies' Resistance, while also slowing them down. And it doesn't need any slotting to be good late-game either. Howling Twilight is an AoE Stun against enemies plus AoE Revive for allies! Pump up your Global Recharge, and use this power offensively for some fantastic Control. Shadow Fall is a PBAoE Toggle which grants stealth to you and nearby allies, as well as Defense and Resistance to some Damage types. Dark Servant is a pet that lasts a few minutes and spams To-Hit Debuffs on enemies, as well as casts its own version of Twilight Grasp. Very handy! Miasma has: Fearsome Stare and Petrifying Gaze. The former is a Cone Fear, and pretty strong for what it does. It also tears in to enemies' To-Hit, making them less likely to harm you or your allies. Petrifying Gaze is a single-target Hold with no Damage, BUT it is a great mule for Basilisk's Gaze IO Set or other Hold-Power Sets you may want. Affinity has: Fade and Soul Absorption. I've not personally paid too much attention to Fade, but it's an PBAoE buff for Defense and Resistance. Seems like Shadow Fall, but you have to recast it every couple minutes. Meanwhile, Soul Absorption takes care of Dark Miasma's biggest weakness with +Recovery. For you and the whole team! Based on the number of live AND defeated enemies! It's sweet, sweet glorious relief! And then there's Black Hole. It's . . . well . . . it's probably not even worth taking about. Enjoy the free Power Pick Slot!

Probably people concerned at the unlikely prospect of such a Power also being a way to track other players, I suppose.

Tested some doors with an unaligned character. As expected, the game seems to consider such a character to be a "Hero" for most Alignment-dependent conditions, including the new Pocket D doors. As usual, such characters can not make use of Null the Gull to change their (lack of) Alignment.

It really circles back to the question of "What even -is- 'The Game' in City of Heroes?" People clearly have different answers to that question. I believe those answers are always valid so long as they do not harm other players. Someone being able to play a game (ANY game) on an easier difficulty mode than another player does not cause harm to the players who are choosing to play on harder difficulties. It doesn't change what has been "earnt," since nothing it actually -being- earnt. It's all make-believe. As long as difficulty settings are optional and within each player's personal control, the way any other player chooses to engage with the game is independent of others. Yes, PvP introduces a complication to that point of view. But given the very particular brand of PvP here, it's segregation from PvE content (where these difficulty settings and quality of life features would be used), and that the most vocal members of this game's progressively more tailor-fit PvP experience have said time and time again that the PvE experience is largely divorced from the rules and structure of PvP here, ... there aren't really any advantages to a player getting rewarded more easily in PvE content that would have a detrimental knock-on effect to other players' PvP experience. The game -can- stand to get easier. If someone personally doesn't want to play on easy mode, then that should remain their personal choice. Thus optional settings and features are clearly acceptable additions. And, for a sense of fair play and equity; sure! There should also be more options to increase and improve the difficulty settings for those seeking that kind of gameplay too. But at the moment, the difficulty scale goes from -1 to +4. Things are already leaning in the favour of players who want a tougher time. Some sort of reliable but optional way to find glowies, hostages, or stragglers in instanced missions is an excellent idea worth pursuing.

Clearly my memory is shit. For some reason I was thinking of the Founders' Fall exit, I guess. Thanks for calling me out on that, @Cinnder. Sorry for any confusion I caused.

So, uh . . . https://forums.homecomingservers.com/topic/29160-beta-patch-notes-for-may-25th-2021/?tab=comments#comment-365654 There's a chance to possibly get something you've made in to the game with the new Pocket D minor-revamp taking place. Specifically: Some in-game spray paint decals for the Atlas Park, Nova Praetoria, and/or Mercy Island Pocket D Exits, which remains within the appropriate graphical quality and aesthetic style of existing game graphic content. Naturally, there's no guarantee that anyone's work will be chosen, or even if it is, there's no guarantee it will remain unchanged, but I figure it would be worth the while to give everyone the chance to be a part of this opportunity. I'd recommend also considering the possibility of taking a stab at new versions of the spray paint decals for the existing Zone Exits. After all, St. Martial and Founders' Falls' spray paint don't really read as unique to me, personally. Maybe this is a chance to offer the community something a little more /signature/ to those zones. Best wishes to all! Don't dawdle! The turn-around on patches this small are sometimes only a week, or less.