Ago

The forum name and password doesn't work to login to the game, you need to pick them in advance. You can set it here: https://forums.homecomingservers.com/gameaccount/ (you can only pick the username once, if you already did this, it'll appear in a blue bar.)

It'd be something akin to a committee of people who have time to do it. Nothing grandiose or bespoke is likely, as the more requirements each memorial has, the harder it is to ask someone new to pick up the slack. KISS comes to mind. (Keep it simple, silly.) Needs change, of course, so bowing out from RL and bringing in new editors who have time to contribute would be a key part of it. Otherwise it's just friends who do it once then stop and that isn't any different than today. I recognize two faults in saying that: one, in the above sentence, the problem of an abandoned project leaves the memorial in limbo permanently if all the editors in the SG move on at once. And two, I don't have time to do anything on a recurring basis myself. Just an idea.

Next time that happens, try a Support request. An error after selecting your character that cancels loading is definitely in their ability to help with.

Could the community come up with a In-Memoriam base for each server to commemorate fallen players? This way, anyone who we've lost since shutdown could possibly have a place, too. More collaborative, succession plans possible (if someone gets sick, editors have an alt in the base SG so if something does happen edit rights descend), as well as sharing the responsibility so it's not always one person's burden. And the security is in the editing, as viewing the base isn't destructive.

Honestly, FPS is entirely your machine. It's not like video where the entire performance is coming over the pipe: the instructions from server to client aren't tremendously different between 30fps and 60fps. I'd drop the graphics turn-down until the network ping is solid myself. (Run in one of the preset slider positions except "Minimum" or "Performance".) Other thoughts: Is the Windows 11 on that system pre-installed, or did you wipe the system and any ASUS Bloatware first? I'd check the Task Manager and the Network tab to see what is running during Cityofheroes.exe gameplay and see if it's the game causing all that ping or something else. Also: Wi-Fi? Just so you know, even with expensive, well tuned, or new equipment, an occasional brief drop on Wi-Fi around 600ms or higher in ping is normal. It is a radio technology at the end of the day and sometimes interference stops it from working for a moment, like any wireless tech. It shouldn't persist, nor be recurring on an hourly or more frequent basis, but keep that in mind when leading teams or doing a raid. Sometimes the router loses contact for 3-5 seconds maybe a few times a day. That is totally normal. (Judging from your graphs, it's happening more frequent than that or you couldn't snip it in time to share it with us.) Also, location, location, location. The higher your router/wi-fi equipment is above eye level in the house, the better it'll work. (Human bodies block signal, moving or not, so chest height or lower may be fine if you're single or living with one other person, but in a family or gathering situation, it isn't great.) Along with microwaves, fridges and metal appliances, avoid bookshelves, linen closets, and other dense absorptive objects in your path between router and device. If you have a wide house, brick walls on the interior, or multiple floors, a mesh kit may make sense to spring for. In any case, make sure your new laptop and router are sympatico. If your home network has a Wi-Fi 802.11G device somewhere and you're on Wi-Fi 4 or Wi-Fi 5, neither are going to realize the higher speeds until the G device is powered off (or isolated on a 2.4Ghz SSID, with all the others on 5GHz), for example. Link speed is especially important: If your laptop uses Wi-Fi 6 on a Wi-Fi 4 router, it may be capping connection speed to be able to work with your router. Two fixes: -- If you have a reliable USB Wi-Fi adapter you know works well with your current router, try disabling your laptop Wi-Fi and see if the USB does a better job. FOR NOW. Like mentioned above, moving slower devices to 2.4 Ghz and putting newer ones on 5 GHz may help. But ultimately... -- If the router is over 4-6 years old, consider replacing your router as well. Check your laptop wireless specs and get a router that matches the network type (Wi-Fi 5 or 6) and thoroughput (400-800Mbps for Wi-Fi 5, or 500-1200 for Wi-Fi 6). It doesn't have to be exact, but consider the bottleneck: your laptop will never communicate faster than your router OR your ISP Plan. Buying a router that exceeds your laptop speed is best in most cases even if your ISP doesn't/never will. Also, home network equipment isn't all that resilient. Brown/black outs from the power company, lightning, and RFI shortens their lifespan over time compared to more expensive commercial gear. Especially in rural places, given enough time, ALL consumer home routers eventually fail. TL;DR: Like Captain Fab suggests, rock a test Ethernet cable (if you can, some laptops don't have them anymore) and see if Wi-Fi can be singled out. ----- * Sorry for all the numbers, the Wi-Fi 4, 5, and 6 crap still knocks me for a loop. I know the intent is to get users to be in the mindset of replacing their network equipment all at once instead of mixing/matching old tech with new routers. But as someone who works with people still using it and won't/can't upgrade, it's confusing to me as well. https://www.techtarget.com/searchnetworking/feature/A-deep-dive-into-the-differences-between-Wi-Fi-6-vs-Wi-Fi-5 Any network older than Wi-Fi 4 doesn't have a name, but technically there's Wi-Fi 3 (802.11g), Wi-Fi 2 (802.11b) and Wi-Fi 1 (802.11a). Still using any devices with those radios or routers in your house, they are definitely slowing your house down until they're removed. Wi-Fi 4 = Wi-Fi 802.11n or Wi-Fi N. These were state of the art in the 2010s. If your router is one of these, there's an excellent chance you'll have a hard time with HD streaming in a house with more than one TV set as well. Unless you're on DSL or have an ISP that only does 3Mbps or less speed, it's long past time to upgrade. (Don't have to throw out Wi-Fi 4 devices, but the router is holding you back at this point.) Wi-Fi 5 = Wi-Fi 802.11ac or Wi-Fi AC. Most mesh routers/kits sold today are Wi-Fi 5 capable. Wi-Fi 6 = Wi-Fi 802.11ax, formerly Wi-Fi AX. This was in top of the line kits only a few years ago. Now as time progresses, Wi-Fi 6 is set to replace Wi-Fi 5 on store shelves.

Base editing fans are always working on something.

Try "/showfps 1" and look at the number in the corner. If it's below 30, consider turning your graphics down in the Menu > Options page. (You can type "/showfps 0" in chat to turn it off.) Before reducing Screen/UI Resolution or using 3D Resolution Scaling, try turn down or off the following: FSAA Particle Physics Quality (Low) World Texture Quality (Low) Character Texture Quality (Low) World Detail (80% or less) Character Detail (80% or less) Max Particle Count (10000-15000. Note less than 10,000 makes powers difficult to see) Vertical Sync (Disable) Environment Reflections Shader Quality (Low) Water Effects (Off) Shadow Quality (Off) If you can move normally after changing those, let us know. Then you can slowly turn up those options until you have a good balance of looks and movement. If not, give 3D Resolution Scaling a shot (really makes the game ugly, but often works.) If it still happens, we'll need to know more about your computer for better advice. What processor, graphics card, and OS do you use?

I've used "Hide" while soloing to keep invites down while doing base editing or soloing stuff in Ouroboros that I can't bring someone in on once Flashback starts anyway. Sometimes I forget to shut that off, and it sends the same error message as Ignore. Eh, I'm fine with /ignore only affecting chat for the most part, not teaming. I don't lead leagues, and a league leader electing not to invite someone to their jam is 100% in their purview. If someone I'm ignoring wants to be on a team or league with me, that's fine. It's their game, too. However if someone is willing to grief a league or team over the fact I'm ignoring them then a GM can be informed at that point. Civility/incivility goes both ways. (Of course someone talking around the ignore block tells the leader that my presence is a problem, I will leave before the run starts. I don't NEED anything if it's going to impose on others.)

Regardless of Graphics, FPS drops are common in the following places: Kallisti Wharf, Praetorian Maps, and First/Night Ward (and any other new city map from/since Going Rogue. Pretty new buildings? More FPS weight.) Echo Plaza (see above) Larger Shadow Shard maps (Cathedral of Storms easily strains a client at 4GB RAM or less, even during live play.) Rikti War Zone ...and the ever-FPS killing Atlas Park: if you doubt this, remember that City Hall has a mirror-flipped copy of the center rotunda directly beneath the floor. It's... not an environment reflection. It also has at least eight public doors to enter sub-maps beneath the zone: x4 from the training arcs with Habashy, Fields/Costel, and Thierry, one each for the PD station, hospital, Icon Building, and one for the new Fort Trident/FC Building. Now add the new assets from GR on top. For the most part, if its not size of the map in the game engine, map complexity can cause the lag. And mission maps with a defined ceiling will always do much better on FPS than open instances (caves, warehouses and offices always beat forests and shorelines) because the radical map size needed to permit the sky/ground horizon isn't a factor. And player population. Echo Plaza unoccupied vs. during an HC Event will also be a fair comparison point. With all of the above in consideration, those zones are the stress-test of how well a configuration works, but not the be-all-end-all of how well the game can play in any zone. Most places have a few of those factors. TL;DR: anyone who claims they have a minimum of 60FPS+ throughout in Atlas Park, even on top-end equipment, I treat with a touch of skepticism. (They may be right and incredibly lucky, but not paying attention or lying is also a possibility.) Your system appears to be running just fine. 🙂

First thing that comes to mind is Sticky Keys. Windows: https://superuser.com/questions/484454/how-can-i-kill-murder-fully-disable-stickykeys -- The location will depend on your Windows. 7/8: Control Panel, Accessibility Settings. 10: Settings, Ease of Access Center. 11: Settings, Accessibility, Keyboard. Same idea across all versions -- Find Sticky Keys. Then uncheck everything/turn it all off. Even the Keyboard Shortcut (which is pressing SHIFT five times in a row. If you have a macro set on SHIFT, or bump it on accident on a reduced laptop or mini-keyboard, this is easy to turn on by accident.) Mac also has a Sticky Keys mode, which is in System Preferences or Settings under Accessibility. Only one switch. Linux, you'll need to find out from your user support community. Gnome, KDE, Mate, Cinnamon, XFCE, LXQT, etc. all have different approaches. It gets more confusing when distros like Ubuntu have a separately maintained distro using each of these desktops. Sticky Keys would only apply if everything around you is moving normally. If your gameplay has low frame rate and you're stuck moving in a direction with choppy frame rate, you may have a network issue. (Type "/netgraph 1" in chat, look at the lower right. Is the graph full of yellow/red spikes or blocks? Check your network out. Green and flat, or with tall spikes or blocks that are green? Something else is causing the issue. Type "/netgraph 0" to shut that graph off.) If your movement still sticks, your system could be lagging out. Try opening Options in-game to turn graphics or resolution down. Fastest way to turn graphics down: use Minimum, Performance or Recommended mode, click Apply Now, then under Advanced Settings click Enable and suit to taste. (If you're on an NVidia or AMD card that's been sold new since 2017, start with Recommended, don't use Minimum/Performance.) A tutorial on using NetGraph and GraphFPS can be found here:

ASUS in with the save! https://www.theverge.com/2023/7/19/23800006/intel-nuc-computers-asus-license-support -- Any Intel machines ASUS is honoring active warranties for new and prior systems still under coverage. -- Non-exclusive. Intel can license NUCs with another manufacturer if they like.

A character can go from 1-50 in two weeks of play, with maybe a weekend thrown in. 100 would be a bit much. 50, perhaps fair split across two weeks. Some folks can manage that even faster. Transcendent Merits are the best way to help your lowbies, especially when 1-30 game play is able to be done in a week of casual play and the rest of the way to 50 takes a handful of raids. (Most progress realized in two MSRs under a 2XP booster and "Experienced" charges on hand, it'll take some more to hit 50.) Single Origin Enhancement Sets and the "Upgrade" button makes this cake, don't need to touch a single IO until Level 47 when it's time to kit your L.50 IOs out. Then at Level 50, it takes only 4 TMs to buy six very rare Incarnate Components as a point of comparison (180 EMs with 20 left over) if you know which Tier 4s you want to make. This saves a colossal amount of time. Sitting on hundreds of EMs, 12, maybe 15 TMs could mean having Tier 4 Incarnate Powers built out as soon Veteran Level 2 or 3, earlier if you don't mind spending Threads for iXP. Also folks forget Hero/Villain Merits do the same job now, send a Hero/Villian Merit instead of RM in email to send 50 at a time. Surely, your fully incarnated toons have some to spare if they're 'finished'. (Of course, never discount a Respec needed for a new Issue release, so keeping enough to adjust a couple of sets later makes sense.) Finally: Enhancement Converters. I've kitted out a toon with random stored recipes that have nothing to do with a build and an open Auction House window. A highly survivable build as well with high defense. And I didn't even need a single reward merit to do it. Maybe less now, since prices on most recipes except VR and PVP Procs have dropped a bit since last year. Cost? 400-600 million INF, some patience, and a free afternoon. One Saturday, had eight hours and did it for two toons. I'm nobody special, this could be you, too. (Won't help with your Purple IOs and ATOs, but those can be bought with Reward Merits and crafting. And 60-80% of a build is realized without them.) Finally, a change of subject: none of this including my musings has anything to do with the Patch Notes above.

They dressed me up like this. And this isn't my nose, it's a false one. (Crap, I do have a wart. I might be in trouble.)

I'm glad to see this thread has taken off how it has over the years. 🙂 (I stopped calling myself Tahquitz for personal reasons. Look here if you don't believe me.) Sadly, I wound up throwing out the system I mentioned in the very first post a month back as it finally gave up its ghost. And a prebuilt I picked up anticipating that doom also faltered with a critical Mobo fault after the 1 year warranty was up (HP Pavilion, got it for $800 before they ditched AMD for Intel. I know Gamers Nexus already reviewed it terribly.) So I wound up going to the dark side. I play my MMO games on a slightly used Mac Mini myself these days. I may try building one again someday but I find myself with less time than I used to. Still, I love to see the builds you all have come up with and keep 'em coming. If it gives me plenty of ideas, I know it does for others.

Looks like Intel is giving up on NUCs. (Mostly the bottom line, niche market interest as PC sales slump.) Probably just as well as they sit in-between the Laptop and Desktop form factor except in the "wrong" way. SFF's are popular with businesses where space is at a premium or keeping computers out of the way makes sense. But for home use, a Laptop makes SFF computers difficult to consider even if they work well. Ignoring gaming for a sec: Raspberry Pi and other SBCs buck this trend because of the super low cost without terrible performance. The Windows 10 System on a Sticks in the mid 2010s ran worse than Netbooks. Cheap NUCs at that $100 price point do a bit better than that these days. But no Integrated Graphics support past video playback/2D stuff means you're spending $300-500 on one that has Radeon Vega or Intel Xe included. Which returns to "why not just get a cheap laptop at $50-100 more?" (I'm aiming for the low end per the OP topic. Ghost/Beast Canyon NUCs that can slot PCI-Ex 16 cards were never affordable to begin with.) https://www.pcworld.com/article/1989175