The best gift you can give in CoX

[boggo2300]

1 hour ago, srmalloy said:

Once I started making characters with Russian-derived names, I went a little overboard working up bios for them, looking up actual Soviet/Russian research institutions, such as Институт эволюционной физиологии и биохимии имени И.М. Сеченова (I. M. Sechenov Institute of Evolutionary Physiology and Biochemistry) to reference, and made up a collection of background references -- the state-sponsored hero groups like Народная Армия ('People's Army'), villains like Красная Угроза ('Red Menace'), Генерал Зима ('General Winter'), and heroes like Красный Орел ('Red Eagle') and Зимняя Дева ('Winter Maiden'), which I referenced through different characters' bios. By re-using the same references to individuals and organizations back in Russia, I think it creates a more organic backstory than having each character's bio being completely isolated from each other's.

thats not overboard in any way (I have keybinds on Grey Wanderer of him third personning himself with 80 different names of Odin (excluding Odin, Wotan, and Wodin)) working on the theory, he's just that kind of guy

[Extor Prime]

Umstvenny Ulan made me smile 🙂 He should have a gravity controller teammate called Gravitatzionny Gusar.

Edited December 26, 2019 by Extor Prime

[Christopher Robin]

I always give (and have kindly received a fair number of) compliments for creative costumes and bios.

I know how much work some people put into getting their creations "just so" and they really appreciate the recognition.

 

I really only had (soon to be "have" present tense as I am remaking him! ) one badge hunter

hero but I'm always willing to help others get theirs, time permitting.

16 hours ago, DougGraves said:

 

now if only there were a way to bind a slash command to a key so you did not have to type it every time.

16 hours ago, MetaVileTerror said:

Same with every command.

/bind KEY info

Where "KEY" is whatever button you want to bind the command to.

 

You can also /macro it if you want to add more buttons to your Power Trays.

 

Meta that post should come with a warning. DO be careful with this command.

Much mischief can arise if you bind what you think is a convenient function to a key

(like a letter of the alphabet) and then forget it's there when you need to use that key to type

something or for another function. I've had to help people new to /bind in forum PM's because they

couldn't ask for help in game without asking to join a team or firing off their battlecry every other key press.  

 

You'd think it obvious but, just in case, do not assign say the Moon Walk dance emote to your W key unless you plan

to roleplay as the 2nd coming of M.J. ...and only ever want to use teleport to travel, cuz you'll never walk again.

I suggest using the extra buttons on your mouse (if you have them), usually button4 and button5 since

the L&R are 1&2 and the wheel is usually 3. Also if you have a full size keyboard with a separate

number pad off to the right side then numpad1 - numpad9 can also be used fairly safely.

 

Also be careful with "auto reply thought bubble that appears over your head when typing" binds as there is a

rare bug that can happen if you are talking with someone who also has one where your auto replies will

decide to grudge match in the chat box and fill it with a non-stop stream of essentially "less filling"

and "taste great" chat and you won't be able to type until one of you quits the game or zones.

 

 P.S. Keys used in combination that are physically far apart on your keyboard and

therefore unlikely to be hit accidentally or needed for anything else are also

good choices such as the left shift key and the brackets. i.e. LSHIFT+[

 

 

Edited December 26, 2019 by Christopher Robin

[Lost Ninja]

1 hour ago, Christopher Robin said:

I always give (and have kindly received a fair number of) compliments for creative costumes and bios.

I know how much work some people put into getting their creations "just so" and they really appreciate the recognition.

 

I really only had (soon to be "have" present tense as I am remaking him! ) one badge hunter

hero but I'm always willing to help others get theirs, time permitting.

 

Meta that post should come with a warning. DO be careful with this command.

Much mischief can arise if you bind what you think is a convenient function to a key

(like a letter of the alphabet) and then forget it's there when you need to use that key to type

something or for another function. I've had to help people new to /bind in forum PM's because they

couldn't ask for help in game without asking to join a team or firing off their battlecry every other key press.  

 

You'd think it obvious but, just in case, do not assign say the Moon Walk dance emote to your W key unless you plan

to roleplay as the 2nd coming of M.J. ...and only ever want to use teleport to travel, cuz you'll never walk again.

I suggest using the extra buttons on your mouse (if you have them), usually button4 and button5 since

the L&R are 1&2 and the wheel is usually 3. Also if you have a full size keyboard with a separate

number pad off to the right side then numpad1 - numpad9 can also be used fairly safely.

 

Also be careful with "auto reply thought bubble that appears over your head when typing" binds as there is a

rare bug that can happen if you are talking with someone who also has one where your auto replies will

decide to grudge match in the chat box and fill it with a non-stop stream of essentially "less filling"

and "taste great" chat and you won't be able to type until one of you quits the game or zones.

 

 P.S. Keys used in combination that are physically far apart on your keyboard and

therefore unlikely to be hit accidentally or needed for anything else are also

good choices such as the left shift key and the brackets. i.e. LSHIFT+[

 

 

You can always access the options menu using a mouse and you cannot rebind the left click (afaik) even if you could the left click should work as a normal mouse button when using the clients 2D UI (eg You can use Ctrl+left click to teleport but still use it to set the auto state for powers).

 

With access to the options menu you can reset all the normal game keys (those defined in the options menu) to either their default values or change them to keys that you want.

 

If the game becomes unplayable (using the default keys) you can always get it back to the point where it is playable with just a mouse. Well you need to use your brain too and there does seem to be a distressingly high number of people who cannot do that.

 

Perhaps those people should pick themselves up a mobile or console game where their hand can be held to help them through the incredible difficult learning process.

[siolfir]

4 hours ago, Christopher Robin said:

You'd think it obvious but, just in case, do not assign say the Moon Walk dance emote to your W key unless you plan

to roleplay as the 2nd coming of M.J. ...and only ever want to use teleport to travel, cuz you'll never walk again.

Or you'll use the arrow keys on the keyboard, since the up arrow maps to +forward. Or hold both mouse buttons down. Or, as has been mentioned, go into the menu and update it so that it goes forward again - no need to reset all of them to default unless that was the only one you've changed or you saved a default set already.

 

And binds aren't going to interfere with typing something in chat, otherwise you'd never be able to type "level!" because E maps to rotate right by default, and wouldn't even be able to use the bind command because D is strafe right. If you triggered a bunch of binds while you thought you were typing something I would guess that you forgot to hit backspace, enter, or / to start chat, and then everything fired because you weren't in chat.

 

Sure, don't be stupid when making binds and don't spam them to be annoying... but you aren't going to get yourself into an unrecoverable position using them.

[ZacKing]

On ‎12‎/‎23‎/‎2019 at 7:45 PM, srmalloy said:

Which is why, if I make a character that draws from other source material, I'll research that material so that I can create a bio that justifies why the character is in Paragon City's universe and not their own.

Yeah character bio doesn't mean squat here, despite being "reassured" to the contrary on the forums.  It's the same here as it was on live, if someone reports you you're getting the generic stick no matter what.  couple of friends already got hit despite having complete character bios with no mention of the homage source and costumes that are totally different. 

[Nemu]

I made a lot of Pandas and grace the denizens of Paragon, Praetoria and Rogue Isles with the presence of my Pandas. That’s the greatest gift you will all ever get. EVAR!!!

 

Panda Powah!

[Coyotedancer]

On 12/23/2019 at 9:01 PM, Ukase said:

I have never complimented anyone on their costumes because I simply don't notice them. Bios vary. Some are exceptional and some are just ...stupid. "A mop bucket spilled over and I got these powers"...what? 

The best gift you can give in CoH is helping someone with a badge. Nobody cares if you like their costume or bio. Help them get Really Hard Way or Avoids the Green Stuff. Then you've made a friend. 

 

While badges are *ALSO* Love, some of us do care quite a bit about our character's costumes and their bios.

Me? I was every bit as proud of the Unquiet Bride's costumes or Nemissary's biography as I was of Kestrel's ludicrous build or Palrah's badge collection. 

 

Getting those details "just right" can take quite a bit of time and work, too, after all...  It's nice when the effort is noticed.

 

I'll always mention it when I come across a great look or a fun bio or a character name or concept that makes me grin. That kind of thing deserves recognition in my opinion, just like great game-play and being exceptionally good company.  

[Ukase]

4 hours ago, Coyotedancer said:

While badges are *ALSO* Love, some of us do care quite a bit about our character's costumes and their bios.

Me? I was every bit as proud of the Unquiet Bride's costumes or Nemissary's biography as I was of Kestrel's ludicrous build or Palrah's badge collection. 

 

Getting those details "just right" can take quite a bit of time and work, too, after all...  It's nice when the effort is noticed.

 

I'll always mention it when I come across a great look or a fun bio or a character name or concept that makes me grin. That kind of thing deserves recognition in my opinion, just like great game-play and being exceptionally good company.  

There's no question that some people can take a great deal of time, and invest a lot of energy into a themed character. I've always felt that the time to showcase such things were during costume/bio contests.

I am certainly guilty of generalizing in my previous post in this thread. I just find that people are more likely to appreciate other people investing time into helping them, as opposed to a compliment on a bio or costume. I know I certainly appreciated getting The Really Hard Way far more than a compliment on the bio of Emancipist, my rad/stone tank that seems to now only see action in The Hive. (It's maybe only one of 20 or so characters I have that even has a bio. There might be one or two others, but I forget them as soon as I write them. But with Emancipist - it's hard to forget he's an ex-con with a name like that.) 


That said, it won't be the first time I think differently from other people. 

[boggo2300]

55 minutes ago, Ukase said:

There's no question that some people can take a great deal of time, and invest a lot of energy into a themed character. I've always felt that the time to showcase such things were during costume/bio contests.

I am certainly guilty of generalizing in my previous post in this thread. I just find that people are more likely to appreciate other people investing time into helping them, as opposed to a compliment on a bio or costume. I know I certainly appreciated getting The Really Hard Way far more than a compliment on the bio of Emancipist, my rad/stone tank that seems to now only see action in The Hive. (It's maybe only one of 20 or so characters I have that even has a bio. There might be one or two others, but I forget them as soon as I write them. But with Emancipist - it's hard to forget he's an ex-con with a name like that.) 


That said, it won't be the first time I think differently from other people. 

Every single time I compliment someone on a costume, a bio or even a clever name it's not part of a contest (I avoid those like the lagfests they are) the people who put that kind of effort into making a character a character rather than a meta game tool for skipping as much of the game as possible are the people I'd like to meet and get to know  (btw I never write a character BIO before level 10, give them a chance to develop a personality sort of thing)

[srmalloy]

14 hours ago, Extor Prime said:

Umstvenny Ulan made me smile 🙂 He should have a gravity controller teammate called Gravitatzionny Gusar.

She, actually. Her bio:

 

Appolinariya Zinovna was a young woman from Tver'; because of her mental powers, she had been invited to become новичок in Народная Армия, one of the state-sponsored hero groups. During a training exercise, a building collapsed on her, crushing her spine and leaving her paralyzed. Unwilling to accept life as a cripple, she volunteered for the experimental Полный Киборг program; her brain and the undamaged section of her spine were transplanted into a life support shell, which was installed in an android body. The first body was crude, with limited fine motor control, and difficult to operate, but subsequent designs were more sophisticated, increasingly human in appearance, although somewhat oversized to accommodate all the internal systems. The final body she was given incorporated plasma emitters that delivered short-range concussive blasts and longer-ranged electrical pulses; these would supplement her innate mental abilities. But none of these shells could truly replace her original body.

 

She's essentially a brain and part of a spinal column in an otherwise completely robotic body. I don't have many characters that fall under the conventional 'square-jawed hero' image; it can be more fun to start with someone who's gotten jerked over by circumstance. I have a Fire/Rad Controller who has the full 'Chitin' set colored to look like chitin plates over exposed muscle; I created a macro for her to use when people comment on her costume -- "Это не костюм; это мое тело «Подарок» «славной советской техники»." ('This is not a costume; this is my body. A 'gift' of 'glorious Soviet technology'.). She has issues.

[RikOz]

3 hours ago, srmalloy said:

('This is not a costume; this is my body

Heh. My character, "Cybernetic Queen" is based on a sexbot from a song. She started out looking a lot like a Praetorian clockwork, and as she levels up she's gradually replacing parts of her body with more human-looking parts.

[Extor Prime]

14 hours ago, srmalloy said:

She, actually. Her bio:

 

Appolinariya Zinovna was a young woman from Tver'; because of her mental powers, she had been invited to become новичок in Народная Армия, one of the state-sponsored hero groups. During a training exercise, a building collapsed on her, crushing her spine and leaving her paralyzed. Unwilling to accept life as a cripple, she volunteered for the experimental Полный Киборг program; her brain and the undamaged section of her spine were transplanted into a life support shell, which was installed in an android body. The first body was crude, with limited fine motor control, and difficult to operate, but subsequent designs were more sophisticated, increasingly human in appearance, although somewhat oversized to accommodate all the internal systems. The final body she was given incorporated plasma emitters that delivered short-range concussive blasts and longer-ranged electrical pulses; these would supplement her innate mental abilities. But none of these shells could truly replace her original body.

 

She's essentially a brain and part of a spinal column in an otherwise completely robotic body. I don't have many characters that fall under the conventional 'square-jawed hero' image; it can be more fun to start with someone who's gotten jerked over by circumstance. I have a Fire/Rad Controller who has the full 'Chitin' set colored to look like chitin plates over exposed muscle; I created a macro for her to use when people comment on her costume -- "Это не костюм; это мое тело «Подарок» «славной советской техники»." ('This is not a costume; this is my body. A 'gift' of 'glorious Soviet technology'.). She has issues.

Thanks for the backstory. The reason why I figured the character was male is because Russian is strictly gendered (there are 3 genders and everything, including inanimate objects, has a gender). The word ulan (uhlan) is male, so it would be somewhat of a mismatch for a female character.

 

Her name is a bit odd too, first name being VERY uncommon in Russia (particularly Soviet Union), and her last name looks more like a paternal than an actual last name. I would spell it Zinovina; unless she is meant to be of Ukranian or Polish descent perhaps?

 

I would also use "novobranetz" rather than "novichok" for a new recruit. Good story overall though! I know you weren't asking for an opinion, but I do natively speak the language and those are things that stood out to me fairly starkly.

Edited December 27, 2019 by Extor Prime

[Lost Ninja]

21 hours ago, Ukase said:

There's no question that some people can take a great deal of time, and invest a lot of energy into a themed character. I've always felt that the time to showcase such things were during costume/bio contests.

I am certainly guilty of generalizing in my previous post in this thread. I just find that people are more likely to appreciate other people investing time into helping them, as opposed to a compliment on a bio or costume. I know I certainly appreciated getting The Really Hard Way far more than a compliment on the bio of Emancipist, my rad/stone tank that seems to now only see action in The Hive. (It's maybe only one of 20 or so characters I have that even has a bio. There might be one or two others, but I forget them as soon as I write them. But with Emancipist - it's hard to forget he's an ex-con with a name like that.) 


That said, it won't be the first time I think differently from other people. 

I will always try to help, far more enjoyable than not. But I don't really see Badges as important, for me they have a similar level of importance of AE, fun if that's what you want to do but not something I care for. Ask for help with a mission, boss, TF and if I have the time I will gladly help, ask for help earning a badge... only if such an activity is worthwhile for me too. So if it's like a TF or something similar and you want a specific badge from it, I'll gladly help, but if you just want to clear another council map for warwolves/vampyre... no thanks.

20 hours ago, boggo2300 said:

Every single time I compliment someone on a costume, a bio or even a clever name it's not part of a contest (I avoid those like the lagfests they are) the people who put that kind of effort into making a character a character rather than a meta game tool for skipping as much of the game as possible are the people I'd like to meet and get to know  (btw I never write a character BIO before level 10, give them a chance to develop a personality sort of thing)

I notice names first because it's what I personally enjoy, if I'm in a team with them I will see their bio as I always check out a teammates /info... costume is a distant 3rd not least due to how many people now have always active auras that hide their costumes. Badges are somewhere beyond that, and generally are a "Oh that's a lot of AE badges... and no exploration... hmm." (I don't comment on it just observe). But I will say if I like a name or Bio.

 

Most of my singleton characters (ones I don't habitually multi-box) have a bio, even if it's just an idea about where the come from, but I generally only add them in game if I continue to play them past their mid 30s. Multi-box trios also often have back stories but I'm even less likely to add them in game as I don't often play in a way where I interact with people... I do however have them talk to themselves... probably a good idea I don't stream myself or people would be breaking out the long sleeved jackets... 😉

Edited December 27, 2019 by Lost Ninja

[Shred Monkey]

On 12/25/2019 at 5:26 PM, siolfir said:

This has stopped me at the last screen on character creation for 3 different Stalkers in the past month. I still haven't created one because of a lack of a good name. 😞

I sometimes use throw away names and costumes to just get me out of the creator and into the game.  With the option to change names and costumes at any time, I usually develop a final concept as I go rather than before I start.  In fact, I think my currently most played toon "Hyperdrive Monkey" wasn't locked in with a name and costume until I hit 50 and decided for sure it was a keeper.

 

And truthfully, I think this is a more accurate way to play a superhero game.  You don't start out as a hero with a back story and costume.  You start out somewhat weak and inexperienced but hopeful kid/monkey.  Over time, as you level up, you grow into a hero deserving of a name/costume and backstory.  It feels weird saying, "Yeah, I'm an inter-dimension bounty hunter with technology gained from traveling the multiverse and collecting hundreds of bounties, but a level 4 Hellion Lt in Atlas Park is kicking my rear end."

 

 

[NNDeepdish]

19 minutes ago, Shred Monkey said:

I sometimes use throw away names and costumes to just get me out of the creator and into the game.  With the option to change names and costumes at any time, I usually develop a final concept as I go rather than before I start.  In fact, I think my currently most played toon "Hyperdrive Monkey" wasn't locked in with a name and costume until I hit 50 and decided for sure it was a keeper.

 

And truthfully, I think this is a more accurate way to play a superhero game.  You don't start out as a hero with a back story and costume.  You start out somewhat weak and inexperienced but hopeful kid/monkey.  Over time, as you level up, you grow into a hero deserving of a name/costume and backstory.  It feels weird saying, "Yeah, I'm an inter-dimension bounty hunter with technology gained from traveling the multiverse and collecting hundreds of bounties, but a level 4 Hellion Lt in Atlas Park is kicking my rear end."

 

 

I tend to do the same thing! I love being able to change a character's name post creation. So many characters were AT's I wanted to play but wasn't like in love with the name or the character design, and then one day it hits me. I think of a great name and theme. Go to icon, change the name, and then it becomes my favorite character.

[RikOz]

1 hour ago, Shred Monkey said:

And truthfully, I think this is a more accurate way to play a superhero game.  You don't start out as a hero with a back story and costume.  You start out somewhat weak and inexperienced but hopeful kid/monkey.  Over time, as you level up, you grow into a hero deserving of a name/costume and backstory.  It feels weird saying, "Yeah, I'm an inter-dimension bounty hunter with technology gained from traveling the multiverse and collecting hundreds of bounties, but a level 4 Hellion Lt in Atlas Park is kicking my rear end."

I'm more or less the same with most of my characters. I write short bios that more or less just explain how they got their powers and decided to become an adventurer. Then their costumes follow a progression, where their initial costume is just something simple they improvised at home, but becomes more refined and improved as they acquire resources and experience.

 

There are exceptions, of course. Some had financial backing or large resources of their own right from the beginning, or were part of specific projects to create superpowered people.

[Shred Monkey]

On 12/27/2019 at 2:39 PM, Lost Ninja said:

Multi-box trios also often have back stories but I'm even less likely to add them in game as I don't often play in a way where I interact with people... I do however have them talk to themselves... probably a good idea I don't stream myself or people would be breaking out the long sleeved jackets... 😉

You have your multi-box characters talk among themselves in group chat?  That's funny.  Do they ever get in arguments and rage quit their team?

[VileTerror]

I haven't had any of mine ragequit, but I do the same thing, Shred Monkey.  I even host roleplay events where I essentially operate the "NPCs" with my multiboxing, while the other players get to play their various roles as the "stars" of the events.