chigiabelo

Actually, before it went away, I always hung out in GC with my lower level alts; I just seemed to like it more. I find it hilarious that it took 3 hours to get to level 8 back then.

... a PDF copy of Krunch's Fire/Dev guide, back from the days of broken Smoke Grenade. It's got the complete build to level 41 and the hilarious opening paragraph in the leveling guide where it mentions that it should take you 3 hours to get to Level 8.

The Hollows used to be a zone I would spend just a smidgen of time in; just enough to fulfill whatever requirements my contacts gave me and I would avoid it like other hazard zones, partly because I mostly solo and partly because it comes at levels where I tend to outlevel the required missions there in fairly short order. However, since the game came back, I've built and played so many alts that I've found myself spending more time in the Hollows just to avid the tedium of repeating yet the same arcs with yet the same contacts. In the process, I've come to appreciate the Hollows more and realized there were parts of it that I had not seen before.

That looks very nice, PK! Good job!

There's also https://ourowiki.ouro-comdev.com/index.php?title=I25_Commands

LMFAO! There was a blaster player who frequented the defender forum and it seemed to me was doing everything in his power to stop defenders from clamoring for more damage because it would lessen his role on teams. And in the very early days Lothart, I think it was, and I argued about forced teaming (he in favor of forced teaming and I in favor of the game being more solo friendly). I never thought I could almost completely lose my temper on a forum, but I did with him.

As was mine. Good to see you again! There was an (in)famous young-ish troll on the original forums whose name began with "Aby..." and I believe she was also on Triumph. I imagine she would be close to 30 in age now, but I'll never forget her asking out loud on the forums what was wrong with her and why she was unliked and the responses, though brutal ("Because you are a troll!"), were all too true. I often thought about her and people like that and wondered what ever happened to them. Did they turn out ok?

This. Even if you're lazy like me and don't read half the stuff on the screen, you can figure out your missions and learn how to build a serviceable character. Hey, I can even craft a little bit! DCUO and CO? Never figured out their system despite playing for years and finally giving up on them.

I haven't tried a two-handed controller yet, but I do use a Razer Tartarus for my left hand and a multi-button mouse for my right. I think a 2-handed game controller similar to those on console games will work if they're the type that allows you to map every button to a keyboard or mouse button. Better yet, if they support their own programmable macros, then they may be better than a keyboard for some things. I don't believe it's necessary to customize the control device for each character either. Basically, most MMO's use the WASD and nearby keys for movement and the number keys (usually with AND without the Ctrl or Alt keys) for power activation. So basically you just need buttons for Ctrl, Alt, maybe the Shift key and enough buttons or joysticks for the movement keys and enough buttons to represent the number keys in your trays. So for example, on my gamepad I have easy access to number 1-5 and under my thumb I can activate Ctrl or Alt, giving me very easy access to the 15 most used attacks/powers that are right at my finger tips. Less commonly used abilities are placed further away or I just click with the mouse when needed. For any character I roll, I just set up the trays and drop the power icon into the familiar slots. I do the exact same thing in CO without any changes to my gamepad configuration.

I had a stalker once named Diarrhea Jane named after the Breaking Benjamin song, Diary of Jane

You can pay a lot for a good gaming mouse from some of the leading manufacturers and most are well worth it, but there are a few lower priced ones that are surprisingly good. I got this: https://www.amazon.com/UtechSmart-Venus-16400-Precision-Gaming/dp/B00FNKMVUO/ref=sr_1_8?keywords=gaming+mouse&qid=1560391442&s=gateway&sr=8-8 ... and it has held up very well and is quite comfortable and configurable.

Thanks!

Never really had a controller past level 10 before the game shut down and decided to try a Fire/Thermal on on the Homecoming Beta server. Insta leveled it to 34, plugged in some SO's and headed to Bricks to see how well it soloed. The imps made pretty easy work out of some Freakshows but I noticed that they did not aggro or attack several spawns of Council. Since I have a server at home, I tried it here too and same thing; the imps just stand there while the Council mobs beat me up. Is that normal?

As I've almost exclusively soloed since CoV came out, I found MM's my favorite to play because they solo well, as long as you don't push it too far. I soloed a Bots/FF to 32 before it's first defeat, but then only on +0 or +1; a totally relaxing, easy mode build. Since building my own server, I rolled a Beast/Empathy for kicks and insta-leveled it to 33 to see how it would fare. Our first outing was at Founders and I could not believe how well it was doing street hunting purples. As long as I kept healing, the Dire Wolf was so good at keeping aggro and the others did really good damage and killed pretty quickly slotted only with SO's. i liked it so much that I'm leveling one the old fashioned way on Live now.

I've done things like send two to the right, two to the left and keep two with me then attack from three directions. Binds and macros + a good multibutton controller and/or mouse make MM's hella easy to use.

I'm not sure that the server resources need to be taxed as the servers only need to know that the alts are in the base and the exact locations where they are, which they keep track of wherever in the game world these toons are anyway. The rest could be handled client side.

If you have multiple alts in the same SG, then while you are playing one, I think it would be nice for the others to be able to hang out in your base so that when you go into your base, you can see them doing something, possibly interacting with each other. So if an alt is parked near a bookcase, he/she could be reading a book. Or if two alts are parked near a conference table, they might be sitting down conversing with each other or other sg members' alts. Maybe arm wrestling or involved in mock combat.

I suggested something like the CO Arch Nemesis system for CoH a very long time ago. I don't know if I was the first or one of the first to suggest it, but I don't recall anyone bringing it up before or after I did. I called them PAE for personal arch enemy. A handful of people liked the idea, but I've noticed that in game forums, a lot of good ideas get shot down not necessarily because they're not liked, but because other people have agendas with different priorities and don't want the developers focusing on anything else. It's pure, basic politics, but I've also noticed that if you have a good idea and if it's fairly easy to develop, there's a good chance the devs will hear you and consider and sometimes even develop it. Other things I have suggested that i didn't see too many other ppl suggest or like were the ability to hide from your in game friends (got shot down by the pro-required-teaming crowd, but the devs added anyway it so woohoo) and a mission editor (long before we got AE). Numerous other little things that people asked for also ended up either in CoX or later in CO. So they do listen to us. Sometimes it's just nto feasible at the moment.

I use a keypad for my left hand and unless I'm chatting, never need to take my hands off the keypad and the mouse. In the early days of the game, i used the original Nostromo, then an N52Te. Now, I use the Razer Tartarus. My thumb controls jump, dive, back, Ctrl and Alt while my other fingers have access to all the number keys and regualr movement keys plus Tab. So with CoH, my first step upon finishing character creation is setting up three trays for the powers. From that point on, it's just a matter of dropping powers into whichever tray I use, e.g., attack chain in tray 1, #s 1-5, etc. Less used powers or toggles are placed where they are harder to reach. Not only does this setup work for CoH, I also used it with CO and other MMOs.

Right around shutdown I was designing a couple of AE missions. In one, the backstory was it was a rest home for aged supes and the enemy group was all old people. The other one was a daycare for meta humans. All the enemy characters were supposed to kids with pigtails and shorts and bowties. And powers, of course. Hey, villains gotta be villains. I really do want to see some of these SG bases become mission maps tho because some of you guys out there designing these things are really, really talented and the bases have a completely different feel from the usual zones. I visited someone's base the other day and the designer was in it and said they'd placed over 6,000 items at that point. I mean, they had a kitchen with deep fryers with what looked like chicken parts floating in it (all made from bathroom items, I think). Brilliant stuff.

It's not an apartment, it's a secret lair!

You are running around a zone and click on a door on the nearest building. Of course, unless a mission is currently assigned to that door, you get the "You cannot enter" message. Why not spawn a random mini mission appropriate for that building type so a hero/villain can bop their way across a zone anytime they feel like it. Missions similar to the newspaper/radio missions. Better yet, some SG's have amazing looking bases. Expand the AE mission editor so that SG's can create missions using their members (heroes and/or villains) and their base designs as the enemy group and setting. Once published and with enough upvotes, those missions could become a permanent part of the game and would be activated (randomly chosen) by clicking on a door anywhere. For example, you're in a small group and street sweeping in Kings Row, the team leader walks up to any building and clicks on the door and the team is transported to a randomly chosen mission based on that building type. A message pops up saying, "You and your team have just entered the base of the Knights of Atlas, a group that raided your base last year. It's time for some payback!" Each custom mission shoudl come with its own badge so collectors could pursue as many unique badges as they can. I think a lot of players would work hard to create content that could allow their characters and their base designs to become a permanent part of the game.

I soloed a Bots/FF back in the day for over 30 levels before I suffered a single defeat.

Do you have any links to threads about this? Thanks.

In the early days of CoH, there was a bug where under certain circumstances, you had to click twice on some doors to enter/exit. They fixed it quickly, but it would often come back after a new issue or major patch which led me to believe that it was some mechanic that needed a special fix. Anyway, I've noticed it a few times, usually in the hospital, over the last couple of weeks. I'm not sure if it's just my mouse being jittery.