Crystal Dragon

Alright, I promised this a couple years ago, RL swept me up and got me caught up in a spiders web of nonsense for a good bit, and for that I do apologize to the community for the long delay. Introduction Here we are going to discuss roleplay DMing, or guided play style with an agreed upon selected player taking the lead as the story teller for group events and gatherings. This form and style sometimes requires die rolls based on the tabletop format of making big decisions and choices that could determine how the story is to next unfold. This form of play is usually best hosted with players that agree on the terms to trust the DM, the selected player to be the arbiter of the story telling aspect. Every players character voice counts in this format, and each action, decision, or choice is taken into account with all levels of levity for the story tellers twist in narrating the tale. How it works What this breaks down to is what formats are agreed upon for the "die roll". Sometimes coin flips are a good replacement for overly complicated die and maths involved, but for those that wish to do this with basic tabletop sheet systems, die rolls are a fair way to receive a random result with every roll of the die. Some systems allow for modifiers to rolls, and some do not. When it comes to DMing, being open with your players involved is pretty important, it allows them to trust you with the results of the encounters your group faces, and gives you lots of creative wiggle room to provide a random element to the roleplay that most might not expect. The important part of this form of play is to ensure all players in the group encounter are on the same page, with their mini-sheets (If one wishes to have a sheet dependent format), and clear with their character stats in regards to perks/bonuses and specifications in reflection of the players own canon for their character. Respectively, this can also be a bit of extra work for the DM player to work out the best way to maintain an even playing field for the players involved in the encounter. What does the DM do The goal of a DM player is to maintain an fair game, whether it's the encounter with bosses, minibosses, or regular NPC foes, or the interactions between the players of the group encounter. This means there is a weight of importance with keeping those same players in the loop on what content is to be expected of the play format, and any hurdles they may have to overcome along the way. Whether it's a limitation to the characters power by effect of the NPC's involved, or some outside force de-leveling them in a sense to keep the game play balanced and fair for all involved. Randomized encounters based on die rolls can be hard to go by, because the chances of a flubbed roll is still fairly high but the narrator/DM can actually provide chances for the players to recoup from the loss/flub even if it's unconventional ways. One thing about this style of play is not to give TOO much of the story away, foreshadowing for instance, is perfect for giving the players in the encounter hints of whats to come but without detailing too much to ruin the genuine surprise element of the encounter. Something to bare in mind when it comes to tabletop to in-game encounters of this kind is that the DM is intended to be trusted to be a reliable story teller, what one character might not detect in a die roll flub, another in the group might pick up on. The necessity of keeping player agency is something that's quite valid in this style of play as well. Mini-sheet systems, or micro tabletop systems are actually really designed specifically for this style of play and I do encourage those interested in DMing to look into micro tabletop systems for this specific reason. The importance of player agency and not violating player-canon Every system has it's own rules not just for combat but for player discovery and skill checks as well. Some systems use a reduced or condensed number of skills per character to make the encounter more easy to translate from tabletop sheet to in-game encounters, which I do recommend looking for actually for ease of DMing and encounter experiences for the players involved. One thing that I'd like to really put weight upon is making sure the players, and the chosen DM/Narrator is clarity. If there's a rule in the sheet system that may make or break another players character concept, discuss it with them to try to find a good workaround for them to still be included, whether it's accepting that a specific power cannot be included in the encounters, or the use of innate abilities being put aside for the encounter itself, there's always a way to work around personal canon without violating the players agency. An example if I may: The elements of this play to keep in mind is the importance of story telling and ensuring your players involved are aware of the difference between In-Game encounters OOC wise, compared to IC encounters for story telling. It can be hard to write off raid encounters, and npc encounters of the past to be included in the story encounter, but sometimes this is the best approach to take to build a cohesive story for all the players involved including the DM in turn with their encounter foe. What is built into the game, isn't considered written off entirely, involvement with certain NPC organizations and groups could actually be woven in as well as points of contact, mission turn in points for the encounter group and even for information gathering as well. But to tailor the story to involve not just the player characters, but their canon too is something that is a primary goal for the DM to build an inclusive story and encounters based off of the story for all to play a hand in creating together. What type of conflicts come up from this type of style For the most part the conflicts that come up from this type of play style can often be written off as miscommunication between the DM and the players in the group, and sometimes it's frustration from the player involved in the group for not having their part in the story included. The importance of inclusion of those interested in the encounter is something that can often take a lot of work for the DM/Narrator to commit to, and sometimes these stories can take not just a few hours to tailor but days, weeks and often times even months or years to develop. Not every player has that level of commitment to play the role, and sometimes you have players drop from the encounter group to tend to other obligations, real life, school and other such events in reality that can interfere with further developing their character in the story play involved with the encounter group. Some DM'd groups are more open and fluid to adapting to the time away for the players interested, so always speak to the DM headlining the group to ensure they are in the know of your characters absence, most DM's will be happy to help tailor a reason for the departure temporarily so that you don't miss out on the details of the story and how it unfolds during your absence. Some conflicts happen out of character, characters headbutting or not getting along, sometimes it's the DM themselves that are the problem along the line, but building a cohesive story can be really rewarding in the long run, even if one has to step down as a DM to let another continue the story thread from where it was left off with the original DM's departure. Most DM's are willing to communicate the baseline of what the story is to the replacement DM so that the cohesion of the story can continue to fit and make sense to the players involved. AE as a tool for DMing encounters Now for my favorite part of DM style play. AE arcs can actually be created to help facilitate the encounters the players face without the need of mini-sheets or tabletop systems overall. The results of the fights and encounters in the AE arc can be woven into the story overall for the players in the group and easily be respected as canon to the group of players. More often than not, this can be really hard to do if the DM specifically isn't sure of their AE creation skill, so I would recommend doing some test runs with random players before releasing the arc into the wild, however, if you feel it's something that might not be widely accepted for character development, you can always keep the arc saved for doing test runs with rewards enabled for the players of the group instead of submitting it to the AE directory. Improv after completion of the arc with the DM and players group involved can help actually make the development of the story continue further to branch into other stories as well. Respecting Player Agency and Content Consent Something that can sometimes be a bit difficult to do is ensuring the players agency is respected even if the content might not be acceptable to the player themselves. Background involvement is always an option for those that wish to still take part in the story but don't wish to play through the content that can be otherwise unacceptable to themselves. Whether it's handling negotiations, gathering further information, remote handling of drones and technology, ect, these are ways you can work around the content barrier that some players might hold objection to without directly exposing them to that content specifically. A DM can use tact to summarize the encounter for the player stepping to the background without detailing the content they might not be okay with and still keep the story cohesive for all in the group of play. Inclusivity for those that might be sensitive to some subjects that can come up in play is something that the DM is meant to help manage and be responsible for, bridging the absence in cohesive ways while still maintaining the story fluidity for adapting new players into the core story. But something to really keep in mind is that we are all players in the theater of the mind, and sometimes we encounter things that are disturbing, harmful even to those that are not ready to approach those subjects. Safeguarding your players involvement is something that should be widely accepted, along with informing them of what they are to expect content wise to help them navigate when is a safe time to be involved, and when it is not. Everyone has their own personal limits and boundaries in what they feel like they can handle in encounters, and respecting that, and finding ways to continue their involvement while accepting their limits by backgrounding them temporarily from possibly "triggering" content is perhaps the best and safest way to manage your players involvement. Afternote: If you would like to share some of your experiences with DM'd events in the game, feel free to post about them here! I'd love to hear about everyone's experiences with this form of play style and can answer questions along the way if there is anyone that would like to know more. ALSO, one more thing I need to really put through to a definite base line for all RP. If the player doesn't consent to the encounter, don't violate their trust by doing it anyway. It's rude, abusive, and can be taken as a form of harassment.

Depending on what your play style preference is, there's lots of different super groups to coalition with. Many of the club super groups in particular have a thriving RP community in member base, and so many of them have chained their stories to work with pretty much any player that visits or becomes a "regular patron" to their spaces. There are lots of public bases available for settings and personal spaces as well. Most notable public spaces are actually on the Everlasting Base List popmenu, some change their base codes when they are closed (specifically some of the club bases) but there's a large number of them that are largely public for use. At the moment the most popular Discord group for roleplay connections and concept discussions for Homecoming is City of Roleplay, I am one of the administration staff members and I also run the Welcome Wagon's project monthly for teaching newer roleplayers and old, about the features of the game as well as brushing up on basics for those that are not super familiar with roleplaying in collaborative spaces like MMO's provide. YES, new AE arcs to play are ALWAYS a good thing for exploring character backgrounds, encounters, and more. At the moment none that I can think of off hand (I'm a bit irregular with AE arcs to be honest, but I do recall a number of creative players creating arcs to explore the backgrounds of their characters and the many groups blue, red and gold side to be introduced to, lots of player canon gets involved in many of the current dev choices on the AE list, so be sure to check them out!) To my experience, PVP here is a bit wonky, there's some build choices that are a lot stronger than others and it's something that the devs of HC are working towards creating a balance for all AT's. There are some people that use PVP zones for immersive story telling as well as action scenes (Ahem, I jumped into a few simply because it fits for my characters story as well. Quite fun!) Entry level depends entirely on you and the players you interact with honestly, some might be open to the idea of a "kidknapping" scene, but some might not be okay with it. Always talk to the players OOC wise first to make sure they are open to the concept, it's one of the basics I try to encourage and teach with the newer players here, informed consent roughly. Many of the travel hub bases are great for meeting people in, or just for functional use, one of the newer ones, Metro Plaza GO-28888 is one I'd recommend for roleplayers new and old to use simply because it's beautifully made and has an atheistic that the tram locations of the game actually lacks. Another I can recommend exploring for RP opportunities is Karma-508. You can also find many many more that might be good settings for play here on the HCwiki. HC Wiki Everlasting Base List

1 2 3 4 I declare a thumb war!

Donations may remain anonymous upon request, most salvage and enhancements dropped into the Vault alts inventory will be added to the pool as influence or prize. Public Donors: 1. Send a confirmation message to @TobiasElfangorson through discord. Or you can reach out to them here @Sigmage8602 2. Once contacted, Email your donation(s) to @Pride Vault 0 (Global account for Pride Treasurer.) in-game. 3. Once Donation is received wait for confirmation 'receipt' screenshot will be sent to you on the private messages part of the forums here or through Discord. If you wish to donate to help us make this years Pride as fabulous as we hope to, feel free to follow these instructions! If your club wishes to donate or contribute to the rewards for this years Pride events, please reach out to Tobi @LeadWanderer or @Pride Vault 0 in game, or on here to get further information on what your club can contribute! The alt name in question is Vault Himbot Rocky.

This is a lovely base, and I'm really glad you made it! My welcome wagons attendee's were very pleased with the setting and were singing praises of the design work of the base. 🙂

*Absolutely bounces around with excitement.* AHHHHHH! I've been waiting for that sybil outfit to come to the costume options, I have JUST the character for it too! YYYAAAAAAYYYY!!!

It's been repeated in the replies here. No, for several reasons, and mostly due to the privacy wrangling and security that might require to ensure the live player account owners are really who they are in acquiring access to their old data, and lastly no because that's a whole other matter that got wiped out completely.

The quick and dirty guide for MMO acronyms: LFG: Looking for group LFT: Looking for team MLT: Miss Liberty taskforce ITF: Incarnate taskforce RP: Roleplay/Roleplaying, players are acting out their characters in team, or in locations for the scene and setting. Plvl: Power leveling, or level boosting/farming. SF: Strikeforce Posi: Positron taskforce or mission arc. DFB: Death from below, one of the very first missions to do at level 1. Incarn: Incarnate / lvl 50+ basically. Lettme know if there's any others you would like to know about bro.

Wait for an official response, they may have more instructions on what the issue may be. I can only presume as someone that's tech savvy. I do hope that it can be made to run on your system, we love having new players here.

Hm, you still have the installer? Right click and install with admin permissions, that might work past the possible flag from Microsoft throwing up. It's possible your antivirus is flagging the game installer/launcher. Sorry, my techy side is itching that that might be the issue. With that additional information, it looks like it's trying to launch but something is obstructing it from displaying. Possible update for the internal game file support maybe? Afterthought: When you alt+tab, does it display anything for Homecoming or City of Heroes in the multiwindow choices it pops up?

Check the shortcut for permissions to run as admin. I run the game on a Xflow Asus 13 with Windows 11 (Updated just yesterday) and have no problems running it with admin mode selected on the permissions.

Amazingly well put together, Multi, thank you! I'll be creating a short list of forum threads to help new folks to the game and to Everlasting with link tree in just a bit. Here we go! https://linktr.ee/CrystalDragon

To my knowledge there has been talk all over the place about this possibly happening but I can't speak for the HC staff on this, or the devs. But I do hope that Nvidia will consider adding the game to the GEforce experience platform registry.

We'll be meeting up again at the same place, same time in Metro Plaza for the expanded edition on the rest of the content we cover with the sessions, see yall then, and thank you for coming out folks! ❤️

Gah I got caught up in other business yesterday, my apologies folks.

If you are maintaining this list, please note in my own creations that most of them are under renovation and I'll try to post an update once those are completed.

Arbitrary mention: Welcome Wagons is a COMMUNITY project, no single super group, villain group, or praetorian group is associated with it's creation and operation, community members worked together to create this, and we will continue to keep it operating for the foreseeable future from a clear and unbiased stand point Not only do we use our shared experience to help players understand the basics of roleplaying in CoH (and MMORPGs in general), we also offer assistance in locating roleplay supergroups and events, as well as creating awareness and protecting players from common problematic behaviors in roleplay, the strategies used to disarm you of consent, fair treatment, and safety. This project has been open format from it's inception for all new players to participate, bring their questions about roleplaying, and asking about the UI features of the game and about how to connect with groups and players that share their interests of genre and play style that can be used to help foster a stronger roleplaying community on this server shard. If anyone is interested or has any further questions about the project and it's goals and ideals, please do reach out to me, I'll be happy to answer any of those questions as it's original organizer and creator.

Celebrating 3 years of our mentorship project, we'll be reopening classes starting on the 12th through the 14th, for hour long symposium styled lessons about the roleplaying basics and advanced information about roleplaying in MMORPG's starting at 3PM EST to 4PM EST. We hope to maintain a schedule of these classes being hosted once a month, location has not been decided on yet, but base invitations are eagerly welcomed. If you would like to join the mentorship project, please join the Roleplaying Guides Collaborative club here on the boards for further information.

Not a bad idea, might make maintaining the social panel a bit easier having a "last online" date and time attached.

Perchance AI and Bing's image generator is pretty good. Perchance is uncensored however, so might run into some NSFW results from time to time.

Alright, since this is a server side change that actually might need some detangling the coding noodles, I figure it might be time to request this. In the time that I've been playing the servers, 2019 to current day, I have hit the global cap for friends, global friends, and blocks. I had originally considered trying to find a way to create a "mimic" mod to increase the limit but as Michiyo has mentioned in the discord feedback channel, that's a server side limit that may need developer attention. The mod isn't possible due to the hardbaked coding for the server side social features of the game. And thus, here I am, putting in a request and/or suggestion for future changes in need. So, here's my suggestion. We need to bump up the friends/global/blocks up to at the very least 250 cap. I know this may require a lot of time to decipher and figure out how to make it possible, but I got faith in the developers skills here to be able to work out a way to make it possible eventually. It's been a long waited issue that I've been chewing my lip over, and trying to work out ways around the 50 cap currently instated in the backend, but I hit a point fairly recently that I feel this may be a needed change for all players of the game servers here. With the growth of the community and more active players coming here from all over, we need to have a way to continue to safe guard our play experience, keep touch with those we enjoy playing with, and wish to keep touch with. To be honest with you I think even 250 social cap might be still optimistic, but hope for humanity and all that, I try to keep an optimistic mindset for community's of this growing scale. Will it be possible to do this? I don't know, but Michiyo had made it clear that this was more a developers issue that needs addressing on the server back end.

The organizing treasurer has volunteered to create a crier character in order to draw attention to the need for donations for the events being planned out. You may see this character pop up at base portals throughout public locations, such as Pocket D, and Atlas Park, in order to get the word out, once a week. Day has not been selected and should not disrupt the Club crier alts placed throughout.

On the note of donations for the server: Homecoming staff has been quite transparent on where the funds are going, and how it's split up for the server maintenance hosting and other services that we require to maintain the server stability. To say that they operate in the shadows in regards to funding isn't quite correct, even prior to the LLC, they were quite transparent with us as donating players in this regard. But now, they can provide more transparency on what the upcoming adjustments in the donations required, as well as how the funds will be channeled to them through more legal and secured ways. 🙂 But something to keep in mind, unless the server start taking funds and putting it to profit for the team, NCsoft and the lawyer brigade likely won't take action, or say anything of it.

Some concept AI renders I worked with Bing and perchance on for my own characters. These are strictly used for place holders for character art I will be working on doing as I continue learning, studying and practicing with digital art programs and tools I've recently obtained. The descriptions I used were intended to depict each of the characters as character figures in various different poses. I quite liked how they turned out so I thought I'd share them. (YES AI RENDERS, and I'm very careful with how I use AI, at all.)

Nothing wrong with wanting to know where the funds are going for funding the game and further development! I like having the transparency actually. 🙂