Homecoming Server Update (October 1st): Closed Beta, Name Release, and CoC Updates

[Dr. Feel-Good]

Thank you for this!!!

 

 Multiboxing in the Labyrinth of Fog is now explicitly disallowed.
GMs may request that you cease multiboxing during events such as the Winter and Halloween events.
AFKing or idling in raid zones may result in a GM moving your character(s) out of the zone.

    Repeated behavior may result in further action, if necessary.
 

[MHertz]

5 hours ago, Widower said:

• GMs may request that you cease multiboxing during events such as the Winter and Halloween events.

From the CoC page: "Finally, Game Masters may request that you stop multiboxing during events such as the Halloween and Winter events to reduce server load or decongest populated areas."

 

Can this be clarified? Does this mean there is no multiboxing at all during the months of October and December, while those events are running? Or is it more of a "do not participate in these events while multiboxing" kind of thing? Or a "stay out of heavily populated zones" thing? I multibox, but I'm usually in my SG base or Pocket D, not doing XP events.

[macskull]

1 hour ago, kelika2 said:

imagine the maintenance after the patch tho, that should break most people.

like every year i pool my alts inf, merits and other misc things and that takes a few days with 150~ alts

 

someone actively squatting on a handful of names would make that into more than a full time job

The timer has been running for over two years now. As long as someone gets to it before the policy actually goes live on November 1st they’ll be fine for another year.

 

Sure, consolidating stuff between characters might take a while but that’s not what this is. All you’re doing is logging in and immediately logging out, then doing it again. Let’s say someone is holding onto an entire server’s worth of names. If we are conservative and say each character takes 20 seconds to cycle through it would still only take them 5.5 hours.

[macskull]

1 hour ago, Hedgefund said:

So, just to boil it down - AFK while resting in a fire within a zone like St. Martial.  Disruptive/Kickworthy?  Y/N

The “case-by-case basis” wording of this one, just like the “GMs might ask you not to multibox during events” bit, means there isn’t going to be a consistent answer. A reasonable person should be able to conclude that this behavior isn’t going to get you in trouble, but the fact these things aren’t going to be uniformly enforced is problematic.

[Bionic_Flea]

On 10/1/2024 at 9:58 AM, Widower said:

Hello!

It’s been a while

Hello, yeah it's been awhile
Not much, how 'bout you
I'm not sure why I'd called
I guess I really just wanted
To talk to you

I was thinking maybe later on
We could get together for a while
It's been such a long time
And I really do miss your smile

I'm not talking 'bout movin' in
And I don't want to change your life
But there's a warm wind blowin' the stars around
And I'd really love to see you tonight

We could go walkin' through a windy park
Take a drive along the beach
Or stay at home and watch TV
I see it really doesn't matter much to me

I'm not talking 'bout movin' in
And I don't want to change your life
But there's a warm wind blowin' the stars around
And I'd really love to see you tonight

I won't ask for promises
So you don't have to lie
We both played the game before
Say I love you then say goodbye

I'm not talking 'bout movin' in
And I don't want to change your life
But there's a warm wind blowin' the stars around
And I'd really love to see you tonight

 

Edited October 2 by Bionic_Flea

[Widower]

1 hour ago, MHertz said:

From the CoC page: "Finally, Game Masters may request that you stop multiboxing during events such as the Halloween and Winter events to reduce server load or decongest populated areas."

 

Can this be clarified? Does this mean there is no multiboxing at all during the months of October and December, while those events are running? Or is it more of a "do not participate in these events while multiboxing" kind of thing? Or a "stay out of heavily populated zones" thing? I multibox, but I'm usually in my SG base or Pocket D, not doing XP events.

You're not forbidden from multiboxing at all during events; we just retain the right to ask you to leave if we determine your activity (or lack thereof, rather) is exploitative.

[kwsapphire]

13 minutes ago, Widower said:

You're not forbidden from multiboxing at all during events; we just retain the right to ask you to leave if we determine your activity (or lack thereof, rather) is exploitative.

 

I dual box if I'm leading a ToT league, so I can have one toon still earning rewards while I also focus on maintaining the league. But I will of course log out the second account if asked by a GM! I'm just glad to have read this in the patch notes so I'm prepared for such a request. :) 

[Jacke]

26 minutes ago, Bionic_Flea said:

 [  Romantic Balad  ]

 

It's...the Love Flea!  😺

[Glacier Peak]

Good to see this. Let's hope folks don't try to link the wrong discord and HC Team has to continually unlink to allow relinking if the user doesn't read the clearly articulated directions with pictures and arrows 🫠 (thank you again!!).

[UltraAlt]

7 hours ago, Widower said:

Closed Beta

 

How many hours a week would be required to be a productive member of the Closed Beta team and are there set hours that the Closed Beta team runs testing as teams?

 

7 hours ago, Widower said:

The City Council has decided that we will activate the long-awaited name release policy on November 1st, 2024. As a reminder, the policy is as follows:

 

 

 

Thanks for the warning.

I still think that there should be a "out of game release time" for level 50's. It is simply too easy to get a level 50 these days.

 

 

7 hours ago, Widower said:

As you are likely aware, the timer has been going since the release of Issue 27, Page 4, so most names should be released immediately.

 

I wasn't, so thanks for including that.

 

7 hours ago, Widower said:

Will this ever extend to max-level characters?

 

We have no plans to do so.

 

I really have to ask why this isn't being contemplated at all when it is so easy to get to level 50 quickly through power-leveling?

 

7 hours ago, Widower said:

AFKing or idling in raid zones may result in a GM moving your character(s) out of the zone.

• Repeated behavior may result in further action, if necessary.

 

 

Can you clarify what a "raid zone" is?

Is this just the Rikti War Zone or are there other areas of THE CITY that this would apply to?

I'm assuming it wouldn't apply to invasions or events as the term "raid zone" is used.

 

8 hours ago, Widower said:

Using TFs and AE mode to bypass the AFK logout timer may result in being disconnected by a GM.

• The intent of this addition is to give GMs the ability to use their judgement and take action if necessary on a case-by-case basis. To put it simply, you're probably fine as long as you're not causing some sort of disruption or using the functionality for some kind of gain.

 

 

"gain" like power-leveling by doorsitting?

Or leaching during events? (say at Motel 666 in Peregrine Island during the Halloween Event?)

sounds good.

 

4 hours ago, GM_GooglyMoogly said:

eg. AFK at the Halloween Murder Hotel for the entire month, AFK and blocking entrances or exits for extended periods of time, AFK on a TF and preventing the rest of the team from moving on.

 

Thanks, that covers my question about the "Murder Hotel" aka "Motel 666" aka ???

But not farming/doorsitting.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[UltraAlt]

1 hour ago, Widower said:

You're not forbidden from multiboxing at all during events; we just retain the right to ask you to leave if we determine your activity (or lack thereof, rather) is exploitative.

 

Isn't the whole point of multiboxing to be "exploitive"?

 

I mean I'm assuming that multiboxing would fall within the same protection that has been given to power-leveling and AE farming, but I would consider all three to be "exploitive".

 

Not trying to nitpick and I know that all three have been pretty much condoned as being acceptable, but they are all shortcuts to greater rewards than intended ... and I would think obviously so during an Event with a multibox team ... even if the team lead isn't AFK.

[GM Crumpet]

Also a GM not a lead or admin!!

 

We aren't monsters. We aren't going to kick someone sitting quietly in a corner doing no harm and not getting in the way, even if for some reason they are AFK for hours. I've done it myself for damage received badges, standing AFK in a fire and going shopping. When I come back a few hours later, Voila!! The badge!!

 

You may have a good reason to be AFK. You might have forgotten to log off and gone to answer the phone then gone out and not come back until the next day. As long as you aren't causing lag in the murder hotel or are in the way of a portal, we'll probably just leave a tell as a welfare check and hope you reply at some point. (Please reply, we worry).

[Glacier Peak]

6 minutes ago, UltraAlt said:

How many hours a week would be required to be a productive member of the Closed Beta team and are there set hours that the Closed Beta team runs testing as teams?

Just my opinion, but I think any amount of productive time is helpful. I've found the most productive use of my time is going after the things most folks find boring or already assume are good and ready, because open beta misses things like that. Everything from mission and power text to sequences of events to contact dialog options (being intentionally vague because we're not on the Closed Beta sub forum).

 

And there's occasionally set hours for testing things that require a large group of players, however, most of the time will be as new patches become available and at your own pace.

[MHertz]

14 minutes ago, UltraAlt said:

I really have to ask why this isn't being contemplated at all when it is so easy to get to level 50 quickly through power-leveling?

Personally, I read this as "we do not have a plan to," rather than "we plan to never." The latter would be assurance that it would not be considered at any time, now or ever. The former just says they're not contemplating it now. 

 

Isn't the whole point of multiboxing to be "exploitive"?

Not necessarily. Some people (like me) use it for RP purposes. You need an extra character to come in for a scene, but you need your main there too? You can create a character on a second account/instance.

 

Sure, you could argue that earning XP that way is a bit of an exploit — but it depends how you're doing it. If you've got 7 AFK toons on a couple friends' multiboxed accounts just sitting around at the Halloween Murder Hotel, yeah, that's an exploit, because one is doing all the work and 7 are just soaking up server space and XP. Or you could actually be multi-boxing and actively clicking all the powers for each of your toons, which frankly is more like a handicap than an exploit.

Edited October 1 by MHertz

[Yomo Kimyata]

1 hour ago, Bionic_Flea said:

I'm not talking 'bout movin' in
And I don't want to change your life
But there's a warm wind blowin' the stars around
And I'd really love to see you tonight

I’m not talking bout the linen

[TauntingMonk]

It's odd that you didn't put your foot down on having more than three accounts to be able to multi-box.

I'm still always taking back by those you run seven+ accounts at the same time.

I've seen players joke about having more than 20+ accounts.

[silver2019]

9 hours ago, Widower said:

Name Release Begins November 1st

• • Level 50 characters will never be flagged as inactive (with the exception of Temporal Warriors)

 

Overall, the Name Release sounds like a positive move, but can someone please explain what a Temporal Warrior is?

Edited October 1 by silver2019

[TygerDarkstorm]

2 minutes ago, silver2019 said:

 

It tells you what a temporal warrior is right on the character creation screen. They're PVP only characters that can instantly be created at level 50.

[Seed22]

1 hour ago, MHertz said:

Personally, I read this as "we do not have a plan to," rather than "we plan to never." The latter would be assurance that it would not be considered at any time, now or ever. The former just says they're not contemplating it now. 

I wouldn’t recommend doing this, as I think a lot of people who play this game religiously fail to understand:

 

Outside of this game? RL happens. Their computer might break down, a family member may pass and they have to grieve for some time, marriages and then a child. That can lead to spending 1+ years away from the game. They’re not camping a name you want(Psst! Use a thesaurus, and make use of synonyms. Thats been my secret to names when stumped), they’re living a life and unfortunately can’t get to the game.

 

They shouldn’t be punished because they have correct priorities/life circumstances come up.

 

 

Edited October 1 by Seed22

[MHertz]

8 minutes ago, Seed22 said:

I wouldn’t recommend doing this...

I wasn't taking a position on whether they should, only how I interpreted the corporate-speak

[Seed22]

Just now, MHertz said:

I wasn't taking a position on whether they should, only how I interpreted the corporate-speak

I know you weren’t, that was more broadly speaking. Probably shouldn’t of used the quote there haha! My fault

[UltraAlt]

2 hours ago, GM Crumpet said:

Also a GM not a lead or admin!!

 

We aren't monsters

 

Reminds me of the good Ol'days when sometimes the DEVs (and GMs?) would sometimes invade a zone as a Giant Monster or AVs and actually play the characters (or so it seemed).

Epic server-busting battles with DEVs running foes with gargantuan amounts of HP to make for a titanic battle surpassing Giant Monster hunting ... which I'm really glad that has been going on at this point ... but have to admit that we seem to be a little bit better than we should be against them ...  most of the time.

 

I remember this one time when some Giant Monster or another was on top of Atlas City Hall duking it out for a good long time.

Not like I would want to see this happen every day or anything, but things like this out of the blue are really cool even if they happen on days/times that I can't game.

 

 

[UltraAlt]

1 hour ago, silver2019 said:

Overall, the Name Release sounds like a positive move, but can someone please explain what a Temporal Warrior is?

 

Temporal Warrior are PvP characters that you can generate from the character creation screen that start at level 50.

 

[GM_GooglyMoogly]

8 minutes ago, UltraAlt said:

Reminds me of the good Ol'days when sometimes the DEVs (and GMs?) would sometimes invade a zone as a Giant Monster

 

So you are saying that you want to go on a GM Hunting Team against me, GM_GM the GM, and my GM Friends?

[@T3h Ish]

The name release has been long awaited by some, but i'd like to offer something close to my heart, and probably many others.

I would like to suggest there be a mechanism of some sort, to lock a specific name for those who are no longer with us, the name they're known for, and for a plaque placed somewhere in AP or Mercy with a scrollable list, depending on the alignment so we can have a homage/memory of them in the world they experienced with the community friends and family, if that's something they'd want anyway.

It's not entirely unprecedented, we have homages to prominent members of our community, such as Ascendant, albeit as a character performing his famous call, in our beloved City of Heroes.
If it's possible to implement that in a reasonable manner, i'd think many would appreciate it.

Edited October 2 by @T3h Ish
Expanding reasoning.