RikOz

This happened to me today. I finished chatting with another player, and when the conversation was over I logged out. Just before it took me back to Character Select, I glanced at the chat window and saw that I had somehow ignored the person I was just talking to.

Is there some place, IN GAME that clearly shows the proper syntax and/or keystrokes for having a private conversation with another player? I've discovered, completely accidentally, by missing the M key to pull up my Map and hitting the comma key next to it that the comma key will format my chat line to send a tell to the other person I have targeted (whether I have another player targeted or not). When somebody sends me a tell, the only way I can find to reply to them is to click on their name in the chat window and select the "Send [character] Message" option from the popup menu. And I have to do that each and every time I reply to them, which is extremely awkward and inconvenient. I can't figure out how to send a tell to a character who is not in range for me to actually target them, because the syntax is not readily apparent. I had a conversation with another player today, and was only able to send a tell using the "Target them and hit comma" method to start the conversation, and then using the "Click on their name and select from the popup" method to continue conversing with them. And then, once the conversation was over and I logged out, just before the actual logout I looked at the chat window and saw it informing me that I had somehow inadvertently ignored this other player. Once I was back to the character select screen I logged my character back in, found my ignore list, and removed them from it. Then I tried to send a new tell to them, and typed, /t Charactername Oops, I accidentally blah blah blah ... Which didn't go through, and returned the error message, "There is no Charactername Oops currently online ..." I also apparently cannot send a message to somebody's Global handle without first adding them as a Global Friend? All of this is on top of the continuing problem of everything I type in the chat line gets dumped into "Local" instead of whatever it says at the beginning of the chat line (except for Super Group, that works properly). GAH!

Awesome! I'll fiddle with these. I only wish there was an easy way to change text size without changing the window size.

I am curious to know if there is any way to "customize" the UI. Specifically, I would like to universally increase text size. Since returning to the game, I'm experiencing eyestrain after playing for a while. Since this never happened when I was playing WoW, I'm pretty sure it isn't just a matter of my staring at a screen for hours. It occurred to me that, in WoW, I was able to use an addon to increase the size of text everywhere in the game. I am, as is everybody else, nearly seven years older than I was the last time I played CoX, and in my case I'm over 50, so diminishing eyesight is a given. And since I didn't get eyestrain playing WoW, but I am while playing CoX, I suspect that text size has something to do with it. Not to mention that most text in-game is white on a black background, which is objectively harder to read than black-on-white. It also seems that the bold-by-default game text lends itself to blurring together and being harder to read. So I'm looking for a way to 1) Universally adjust text size, 2) Adjust text/background color, and/or 3) Change the default typeface/font. Any one of those, by itself, would be a big help, and being able to change all three would be stellar. I have found the setting to change the size of chat font, but that doesn't affect the rest of the UI as I'd like.

I agree with Philotic Knight Olsen!

I've got, like 35 characters rolled up so far, and most of them are recreations of my old characters. In a number of cases, though, I've redesigned their costumes. I had a VIP sub back in the day, so I thought I pretty much had access to nearly every costume piece, but Homecoming has a bunch of new things that I was able to use to tweak some of the older costumes and make them look better and more "modern", and in some cases allowed me to finally achieve what I was going for originally but didn't have exactly the right pieces for. And a few costumes have gotten complete overhauls. I have, however, made a few "mistakes" with powersets. Before the shutdown I made sure to take screenshots of all of my characters, from many angles, so that I could accurately recreate their costumes in the event that the game came back, but I didn't make a detailed list of all their powersets and so had to rely on what it looked like in the screenshots. I already had some of these characters leveled past 10 before I managed to get back into my old City Info Tracker account, and that's when I discovered the mistakes. For example, one character appeared to be using Martial Arts in my screenshots, so that's what I gave them, but then CIT revealed that she should have been using Street Justice. But I didn't want to start her all over again, so I just said "meh" and kept Martial Arts.

I'm quoting this because my story is exactly the opposite. WoW was my first MMO - I had played the WarCraft RTS games and so it was natural for me to move on to WoW when I finally got a computer that could run it, in 2008. And then City of Heroes was the game that succeeded in making me quit WoW. It was mid-2011, in the middle of WoW's "Cataclysm" expansion. I was not a raider (aside from not interesting me, my job had extremely irregular hours and so there was no way I could commit to a raiding schedule), and I was not a PvPer (I just suck at PvP. Because I'm old.) By mid-2011 I had grown bored with Cataclysm. I had gotten seven characters to max level ... and since I didn't raid or PvP, there was nothing for them to do except make the rounds of the exact same daily quests each day. I also played on an iMac. I was wishing there was another MMO that would run on a Mac, but as far as I knew they were all Windows-only. I mentioned this on a forum website, and somebody said, "City of Heroes runs on Macs." So I tried it out because it was my only alternative to WoW. Holy crap, why didn't anybody tell me about this game sooner? It took me almost no time at all to realize that I was "home". In 2011 I was 45 years old, and had been playing video games since I was 13. And City of Heroes was the game I had been waiting for all that time, I just hadn't known it. Why did it feel that way? Hell if I know! It just did. I went ahead and paid the monthly fee for a VIP subscription, and also continued to pay for my WoW subscription. That lasted for six months, when I realized I was almost never logging into WoW any more, and so I canceled my WoW sub. And then I only got to play CoH for a year, before it all came crashing down in 2012 and I had to say goodbye to the 89 completely unique characters I had already created. Thankfully, this coincided with WoW releasing the "Mists of Pandaria" expansion, which I ended up thoroughly enjoying. Loved that expansion. I had also bought an inexpensive Windows laptop earlier in 2012 so that I could try out other MMOs. I tried a bunch of them, and didn't like any of them. Homecoming brought CoH back, just in time for my 53rd birthday, and I think it only took me three days to cancel my WoW subscription again. And this time, CoH is even better because, even with a 2008 iMac, I still had to adjust the graphics settings way down. In 2018 I finally had to buy a Windows gaming machine if I wanted to keep playing WoW, as they finally had to drop OpenGL, which my iMac used. As a 2008 model, my iMac couldn't upgrade to Apple's new graphics API, "Metal", and the current expansion ("Battle for Azeroth") wasn't even going to launch on OpenGL. So now I can play CoH with everything on maximum settings. One of the other MMOs I tried out was Champions Online, and yeah ... no. Unfortunately, I last played it in 2013 and I can't honestly remember exactly what I didn't like about it. I know I didn't like the graphics. I wasn't happy with the costume creator - I think there were too many limitations. I do recall that I didn't like the way flight worked at all - what with the starting out slow and then speeding up a few seconds later. I think the whole game just felt "clunky" when compared to WoW or CoH. On an amusing side note, my return to WoW after CoH shut down was difficult in a number of ways. I found myself standing in front of instance portals, clicking on them and wondering why nothing was happening, and then remembering that I could just walk through them. And in CoH, I had grown accustomed to a level 1 character being able to make a standing leap over a 10-foot wall, so it was incredibly frustrating in WoW when I kept forgetting my characters couldn't hop over a 3-foot picket fence.

As I said, I did radio missions/safeguards twice, and Detective Martins had nothing afterward. However, I had forgotten about / hadn't noticed the "Find Contact" button. I will look for that. Also, I know that former contacts will often introduce a new contact, but alas, known contacts don't appear on the map unless they have a mission for you or you are currently on a mission for them and need to return to them afterward. And given the number of contacts who hang out in alleys or on street corners, it's really difficult to remember exactly where they are if I want to go find them.

After completing the main storylines in Atlas Park and Kings Row, I headed off to Steel Canyon where I did the University invention program stuff and finished up the last bits of the Shining Stars story arc. Somebody, perhaps Detective Martins, sent me to speak with Montague Castanella and I did the Midnighter's storyline regarding The Lost. Then ... nothing. Martins and Castanella were the only contacts I had in Steel Canyon, and I had none in Skyway, and nobody had introduced me to new contacts in either of those zones. I cycled through radio missions and safeguards, twice, and Martins had no new contacts to introduce me to. There I was at level 18, with nobody pointing me to the next mission. In desperation, I finally went back to City Hall in Atlas Park and talked to the "origin" contacts at G.I.F.T., M.A.G.I., etc., and they introduced me to new contacts in those zones, so that I could get moving again. But I can't figure out if I missed something somewhere along the way that caused me to completely run out of contacts. I'd like to avoid this situation on up-and-coming alts. I don't recall running into this situation back before the shutdown, so I'm sure I inadvertently missed talking to somebody.

The Extracurriculars are former students at the Galaxy City International School for Superpowered Girls. They had to flee during the Shivan attack, and unfortunately had to do so with only the clothes on their backs. Their current "costumes" are mostly whatever they happened to be wearing at the time, as their actual costumes were in the laundry and had to be left behind. (RP-wise, they will eventually design replacement costumes, but for now they're wearing what they've got.) From Mexico, Dorotea Dagger (Dual Blades/Super Reflexes stalker): From France, Flavie Faker (Illusion Control/Force Field controller): From the UK, Betty Beatdown (War Mace/Invulnerability brute): From USA, Energy Ellie (Energy Blast/Mental Manipulation blaster): From USA, Kinetic Keisha (Kinetic Melee/Regeneration scrapper): From Japan, Mental Miyuki (Psychic Blast/Kinetics/Catgirl corruptor): From Ukraine, Raisa Razor (Claws/Willpower brute): From Scotland, Tabitha Target (Archery/Darkness Manipulation blaster): From Canada, Tonya Toronto (Ice Blast/Ice Armor sentinel): But ... what happened to their teacher? Unknown to the girls, their teacher was actually an undercover Arachnos agent whose ultimate goal was to turn her students into new recruits for Arachnos. The Shivan attack disrupted those plans, and Arachnos evacuated her back to the Rogue Isles. Dahlia Danger (Dual Pistols/Traps corruptor):

Well, my idea was mainly (I guess this wasn't clear) that the special mode would facilitate RPing in locations where it would not normally be "safe" to do so due to the mechanics of the mere presence of a "hero" triggering attacks from villain mobs. For example, when I'm out and about, and I see Hellions or Skulls or whomever standing around in little groups, my personal RP is that I don't attack them if they're not committing a crime. I'll actively intervene in purse-snatchings or muggings or attempted kidnappings, where a crime is clearly in progress. But if they're just sitting or standing around? Leave 'em alone. Unless ... they spot me and attack me first. "Get the cape!" So I was thinking that it might be neat to be able to walk across a parking lot, past a group of gangsters who are currently minding their own business, without automatically being accosted. In any case, this is mostly a thought experiment.

I've really had to do a lot of fiddling with the sliders to mitigate one "feature" that I don't care for. The female "run" animation was designed to provide a "sexy" hip-sway by having the animation place the feet one in front of the other while in motion. Unfortunately, on a slimmer female model, this produces an exaggerated "thigh gap" that, to me, makes them look almost bow-legged while running, particularly if you want the hips to be wide enough for an "average" woman. The best solution I've found is to drag the Hips slider all the way down, and then increase the Physique slider to make the model a bit "thick". That simultaneously widens the hips/butt and beefs up the thighs proportionally and results in a more pleasing (to me) run animation.

In defense of non-responders, (assuming you're talking about sending tells to see if a player wants to join up, and they don't answer) I find the constantly-scrolling chat window distracting and so I frequently collapse it while I'm on a mission. So I don't see tells and, depending on how much combat I'm in the middle of and how much noise it's making, I might not hear the beep.

I've always thought that one of the more annoying traits of the costume designer is the way it changes back to "Face 1" when you switch between headgear types. Like, you choose "Hats" to begin with, and then choose a face. Then for an alternate costume you decide to use "Helmets", and the face switches back to "Face 1" and you have to go hunting through the Faces list again to find the correct one. I have to always remember to look and see which specific face my character has before switching so that I don't have to hunt through the whole list again.

Some of mine ... Back in the day I made a black male character with one of those flat-top fade hairstyles that was popular with rappers in the 1990s. Then I dressed him in khaki pants, a button-up dress shirt, a sweater vest, and loafers. His name? LL Bean J Made a Ninja Blade female character wearing practically nothing. I had to name her "Triple-N" because the name filters wouldn't let me call her "Nearly Naked Ninja". (I think it wouldn't allow the word "naked".) I made a joke character who did nothing but sit in the chat channels correcting other people's grammar and spelling. I named him, "Grammar 5th Columnist" (again, the filters wouldn't let me use "Nazi", and I don't blame them). Patriotic, red white and blue female character named "Missy In Action". Female electricity blaster wearing neon pink and shooting pink lightning: "Shocking Pink" The representative of Pluto in my team of solar system-based heroines is named "Notta Planet". Martial artist named "Tae Kwon Dori" Energy/Energy blaster named "Jouleiana"

Speaking of The Hollows, I swear I remember somebody in AP regularly directing my characters there back in the day. So far with Homecoming, I haven't been directed there at all, except during the Midnighter's chain when I got sent to use the wand to cure Lost, and Hollows was mentioned as one place I could find them. By that time, the character in question had already outleveled Hollows by a good bit.

The same way your example characters do: Hold back, and use just basic fighting skills. It may be surprising to a mugger when their victim fights back with trained fighting skills, but it's not unreasonable to the point that they would instantly identify you as your superhero persona. Take them down with one or two punches, and the mugger can chalk it up to "they got in a lucky shot". Even the weapon-using heroes are still capable fighters when unarmed. That's why I included granting access to the Fighting pool "powers". Those "powers" represent any character, regardless of actual powers, "holding back". Well, like I said, this "mode" would be mainly intended as a roleplaying tool, not so much as a gameplay tool, and the player could RP any explanation they like for how, or if, their character passes as a "normal" human. They could be a shapeshifter, like J'onn J'onnz/Martian Manhunter, easily able to assume a human form. The Earth of Paragon City has highly advanced technology, so perhaps they are able to convincingly disguise themselves as human. My suggestion to disallow robotic parts in the secret ID wardrobe could still allow for a cyborg, or even a human-sized/-shaped robot using a realistic, synthetic "skin", or simply hiding a robotic arm under long sleeves and gloves. A non-shapeshifter whose body shape and/or features preclude a physical disguise could utilize technology in the form of a device that clouds the perception of anybody who looks at them, fooling them into seeing a normal human. I have a green-skinned Martian character who is not a shapeshifter, but could, if she chose (she doesn't) disguise her green skin with makeup or synthetic coverings. On the other hand, another character of mine is an 8-foot-tall, huge, advanced A.I. robotic fighting machine whose only programmed purpose is to "protect humanity", and it doesn't see any reason at all to maintain a secret identity, even if it were possible for him. Another character is an ordinary, middle-aged, brilliant scientist who has no powers at all until she drinks the formula she invented. Then she changes into a 7-foot-tall warrior who wields the power of the sun. With RP, the possible explanations are endless!

I know this will never happen unless the game resumes formal, honest-to-goodness new development, and even then I'm not sure it's even possible, but I think it's a fun idea. "Secret Identity Mode" Basically a roleplaying function where a special, specific costume slot is tied to the character's "secret identity". Only "civilian" costume parts would be available. That is, only those costume parts that could be reasonably considered "street clothes" or "work clothes", so none of the more outlandish tights, no armor, no robotic parts (I mean, a battle robot isn't exactly going to have a secret identity to begin with), and no weapons/shields. Since it's a separate "mode", it would be accessed via a menu command or perhaps a special toggle power that turns "secret identity mode" on/off. Turning on your secret identity would automatically switch you into your civilian street clothes "costume", and - this is the key part - disables your powers. In their place, you would gain full access to the Fighting pool powers. The key feature of this mode would be that, while in your "secret identity", you would be able to freely move about the city without being instantly recognized and attacked by most villain groups. Basically, you would be treated like a normal NPC citizen. You might get mugged by Hellions or whomever, in which case you could choose to switch to your superhero/villain identity, which for RP purposes would blow your secret ID, particularly since the heroes at least don't "kill" the bad guys. This could be represented by temporarily being unable to turn "Secret Identity Mode" back on for a period of time. Alternatively, you could remain in Secret ID mode and defend yourself with your Fighting pool skills, or you could simply run away. You'd still be faster, stronger, and tougher than most street punks, but level differences would still apply. Even so, these "muggings" would be relatively rare. This idea is based on some of the "immersion" issues I've had with MMOs over the years, that are not easily solved without a "special" mode. For example, in World of Warcraft, NPCs frequently address you by the name of your class, even when they have just met you for the first time and have not seen you "in action". Unless your character is equipped with class-specific armor sets (like those obtained from raids or PvP), there is really no way to immediately distinguish, visually, between, say, a Retribution Paladin and an Arms Warrior. Both wear plate armor and wield a 2-handed weapon. Both specs are offered the exact same quest rewards, and can equip exactly the same gear from random drops. So while leveling, at least, there is no visual distinction. The same applies to the visual difference between a priest and a mage. And then there is the fact that "friendly" NPCs can see right through a rogue's stealth. I found it extremely immersion-breaking the time my human rogue stealthed into a shop in Stormwind City, the human capitol, and the shopkeeper immediately yelled out, "Welcome, rogue!" I was all, "SHHHHHH! Keep it down!" And if you're a serious RPer who removes all armor and puts on generic civilian clothing while RPing in a city or otherwise not engaging in combat/adventuring, there's now no visual way somebody could identify your class, regardless of what kind of armor and weapons you normally use. Still, everybody knows anyway. Anyway, I know this will probably never happen, but it's fun to speculate.

I've found a few fires marked on my SC map, but I didn't investigate to see if they were actually there. (I was on my fire/fire blaster, didn't think she'd be much help ;D ) I've gotten the notification about the Paladin in KR, but haven't been able to find him. Found the Shining Stars standing around doing nothing, but no Paladin.

LOL, I meant to come here and accidentally clicked my ParagonWiki bookmark instead, and it wouldn't load. Then I came here and immediately saw this thread. I just bookmarked PW yesterday, so it was working then.

I've used those buttons (though I literally cannot read whatever is on them and have to click them to see what they do), and I've also used the popup menu to select a channel other than "Local". Nevertheless, as soon as I say anything, it switches to "Local". SuperGroup chat seems to be an exception.

Yup, this has worked for me the last couple times. Hit the tram and "travel" from, say, AP 4 to AP 5. Problem solved.

Also unfortunately, despite how realistic those jeans look (they were added as part of the "club wear" options, along with the metallic dress, IIRC) they somehow manage to completely flatten out the character's butt.

Update with some new information, since using PrintScreen (or, honestly, any keybind I set to take a screenshot in Options) is still crashing my client. Digging into the CoH folder, I discovered that the Screenshots folder is flagged "Read Only". I see how this could be causing a problem with trying to save a screenshot, and possibly contributing to the crashes. I unflagged it, but it keeps automatically reflagging itself as soon as I close the Properties window. Thus, I suspect some property of the parent window? Indeed, the CoH folder itself is flagged Read Only. I unflagged that folder, and applied it to all subfolders. But it does the same thing - reflags to Read Only once I close the Properties window. I'm still fairly new to Windows 10, having been a Mac user for 22 years prior to buying this Windows 10 gaming PC (from CyberpowerPC) a bit over a year ago. So I'm not sure what is causing this Read Only reflagging. Could it be my antivirus doing it? I use Avast.

Back in the old days I created a team of female heroes, and called them "Solar Angels". One heroine based upon each planet in our solar system, plus the moon and other assorted celestial objects that inhabit our system. Girl Mercury, Venus Lass, Erdmadchen, Ms. Mars, Fille de Jupiter, Saturn Signal, Princesa de Urana, Neptuna, Notta Planet, etc. They all gained their powers via amazing SCIENCE! And the brilliant scientist who developed the serum that empowers them was an unassuming, middle-aged woman named Dr. Frances Solana: Of course, Dr. Solana tested the serum on herself first, before administering it to her young volunteers. When she imbibes the concentrated liquid science, she grows to a height of seven feet and wields the power of Old Sol himself (that is, she becomes a Radiation Blast/Fiery Aura Sentinel), and is known as ... MOTHER SUN!