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

[RBT]

14 hours ago, Widower said:

The City Council has decided that we will activate the long-awaited name release policy on November 1st, 2024.

 

What an incredible gift to give the community just in time for NA Winter and all the holiday vacations! Thank you! Would that be at midnight November 1st, 2024 EST?

[Greycat]

7 hours ago, UltraAlt said:

 

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

 

... no. This will be done during RP as well, for instance.

[jkwak]

14 hours ago, GM_GooglyMoogly said:

WARNING: Mere GM commenting, not Lead GM or City Council Member.

 

The new policy is just a statement that we reserve the right to move or kick players that are AFK.  Generally, being AFK is not a problem, especially if it's for a short period of time.  But occasionally, players go AFK in a way that's disruptive to other players, for 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.  The more disruptive to other players and the longer the AFK, the more likely that person might be moved or kicked.

 

And the worst that will happen is that you get moved or kicked.  When you are back at your keyboard you can play again . . . but probably wise NOT to resume AFKing in the same disruptive way.

i hope that the other GMs see it the same way, its a usefull rule but leaves way to much space for interpretation, i would hate to see GMs starting to kick crieers of clubs and such because in a broad sense, getting people to visit a club can be seen as "gain" and the usual locations those cryers are standing at, in the D near the baseportal, could be viewed "disruptive" by really strict interpretation of such a rule. Maybe such cases should have an exception explicitly stated in the rule, would make some people feel more comfortable about it.

Edited Wednesday at 08:20 AM by jkwak

[UltraAlt]

7 hours ago, GM_GooglyMoogly said:

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

 

Hey, if you all could control Giant Monsters and run them around the City to fight with heroes that sounds like a great time from this end.

I don't know how much fun it would be for the DEVs and GM's to get swarmed by players, but it might be enjoyable to smack the players around ever once in a while.

 

I was just on a Giant Monster team tonight again. It was a lot of fun. Managed not to get knocked out this time!

[GM_GooglyMoogly]

1 hour ago, jkwak said:

i hope that the other GMs see it the same way, its a usefull rule but leaves way to much space for interpretation, i would hate to see GMs starting to kick crieers of clubs and such because in a broad sense, getting people to visit a club can be seen as "gain" and the usual locations those cryers are standing at, in the D near the baseportal, could be viewed "disruptive" by really strict interpretation of such a rule. Maybe such cases should have an exception explicitly stated in the rule, would make some people feel more comfortable about it.

 

The rule is purposefully flexible and vague to avoid the inevitable temptation of some to take it right to the line. 

 

In the case of a "crier" exception, players could do any other disruptive thing but have some kind of invitation that they broadcast so that they could argue they fall under the exception.  Or if you had a dozen criers all standing immediately next to the base portal or Ouro-portal making it difficult for other players to enter and exit.  That would be disruptive to other players even if they are advertising actual events. 

 

We aren't here to ruin anyone's good time.  We want everyone to have fun and enjoy the game, unless their version of fun is to ruin someone else's fun.

Edited Wednesday at 10:12 AM by GM_GooglyMoogly

[Suicide Squirrel]

20 hours ago, Widower said:

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

What about afk idling in sg bases? that bypasses the afk timeout as well.

 

Edit to add, What about Sovereign on Excel in Ouro? i think he should get an exemption to the rule, either that or give him a permanent statue of his toon that he can log into.

Edited Wednesday at 10:50 AM by Suicide Squirrel

[GM_GooglyMoogly]

1 hour ago, Suicide Squirrel said:

What about afk idling in sg bases?

 

Unless you were AFK in a base spamming powers on the bar during an RP event, I'd be hard pressed to come up with a situation that afk in a base would be disruptive.  Oh!  I have another:  You start or join a Dr. Quaterfeld TF then go AFK in your base and no one can progress.

 

It's not so much the AFK as the disruption to other players.  Generally, we try not to take any action that effects a character without permission.  But if you are AFK then we cannot obtain your permission.  And if you are AFK and somehow disrupting other players, we need to be able to do something.  It may be as simple as a tell saying "Hey, can you move a few feet back?  You are blocking the entrance."  If you respond "Sure!" and move, or just more, then there's nothing more for us to do.  If you don't respond, we might move you a few feet away.  If you are AFK in your base or by yourself in some out of the way place I can't think of a reason a GM would notice you . . . unless you were somehow disrupting another player and they reported you.

 

The flip side:  You are always free to open a ticket for us to investigate, but please don't use this new rule as a way to harass another player.  "I just hate Super-Bob and he has just been standing there in that corner for an hour without doing anything.  I'm gonna report him and get him banned!"  We have histories.  We can check chat logs.  A complaint that is more of a vendetta than a violation may result in more trouble for the complainer than for Super-Bob.

[Grandfeatherex]

9 hours ago, @T3h Ish said:

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.

we are getting old, and someone "well known and respected" on one server, is totally unheard of on others (and if they are/were well known they were probably lv 50 with the known alts)

reserving and locking names, and placing monuments (especially since that can't be just on one server) would quickly get out of hand I think

[@T3h Ish]

10 minutes ago, Grandfeatherex said:

we are getting old, and someone "well known and respected" on one server, is totally unheard of on others (and if they are/were well known they were probably lv 50 with the known alts)

reserving and locking names, and placing monuments (especially since that can't be just on one server) would quickly get out of hand I think

A simple plaque with a scrollable list of names would suffice for that purpose with their server name, etc.

Edited Wednesday at 01:49 PM by @T3h Ish
Expanding reasoning.

[mistagoat]

For Hami raids, I log in about 30 min before invites go out to ensure I get into the zone before it fills. I'll often put myself on a TF/AE mission so I wont AFK out during this time and I can do some house work or play with the cats without fear of losing my spot in the Abyss. About 5 min before invites go out I quit that TF and I'll join the league when the call goes out and actively participate in the pounding of Hami.

 

Would this method be disallowed under the new CoC?

 

I would assume not as I don't believe that would be disruptive behavior but It's a pretty important point of clarification because if I were to be moved out of the Abyss, it would be unlikely that I could get back in to participate in the raid. I'd feel much better if this could be clarified.

[Greycat]

6 hours ago, GM_GooglyMoogly said:

 

The rule is purposefully flexible and vague to avoid the inevitable temptation of some to take it right to the line.

 

 

Called it. 🙂  (Mostly from experience, and because I know full well it has to be like that for that exact reason.)

 

Seriously though - for all the questions about "Is this ok," before you ask, ask yourself "Can it reasonably be called disruptive?" The raid zone thing has been long since established. Event criers I don't think have ever been an issue (short of a new one, say, spamming chat in multiple channels every minute, and I can't think of any instances of that.) If you (say) somehow went AFK in a way that blocked a portal, expect to be moved (for instance.) "AFK Farming" in AE? It's in AE, nobody sees it except people in the AE, and so forth.

[WindDemon21]

Another note, for the name policy, are the level requirements earned levels, or trained levels only?

[SakuraFrost]

To clarify, is the name release a one time event or a permanent change moving forward? If it’s the latter could I suggest a one off, with repeated events as necessary?

[WindDemon21]

6 minutes ago, SakuraFrost said:

To clarify, is the name release a one time event or a permanent change moving forward? If it’s the latter could I suggest a one off, with repeated events as necessary?

I'm pretty sure it's permanent and ongoing since even the notifications that are already there now update in real time.

[GM_GooglyMoogly]

2 hours ago, WindDemon21 said:

Another note, for the name policy, are the level requirements earned levels, or trained levels only?

 

Good question!  I'm not sure but will find out and report back.  But to be extra safe, assume trained level to avoid any unfortunate misunderstanding.

 

Edit: After consultation, I have been advised that it is the number that appears on the character selection screen, which is TRAINED LEVEL.

 

1 hour ago, SakuraFrost said:

To clarify, is the name release a one time event or a permanent change moving forward? If it’s the latter could I suggest a one off, with repeated events as necessary?

 

It's on going.

Edited Wednesday at 07:57 PM by GM_GooglyMoogly

[WindDemon21]

4 minutes ago, GM_GooglyMoogly said:

 

Good question!  I'm not sure but will find out and report back.  But to be extra safe, assume trained level to avoid any unfortunate misunderstanding.

 

 

It's on going.

Really specific thing as well, but would there be a way, if you do have a toon gen'd due to the name policy takeover, that there could be a note or something beside it that shows what the name previously was? Sometimes I use the names too because I'll plan to do them to remind me of what the combo is, or just so you know if there is name you wanted to use and you can no longer find it in your list that you know what happened, or some sort of alert when a name of yours gets taken? Is it also possible for a sort feature on the character select screen as well to sort by last login, name, AT, powers, level?

[Kaasha]

I think the name release policy is a great addition to allow active players to have access to more available character names.  However, as one who has lots of characters, Is there some way to add a filter, button or some way to highlight ones characters who are viable for the name release?  I know we currently get the little hazard icon next to their name but going through each character page daily to check your characters would be quote cumbersome.  If there was a button we can press on that screen during login that would show just those that have hit the limit, it would be easily to highlight the characters that need attention a lot easier to manage.  Not sure if it's do-able or not.  Just tossing out the idea.

[Krimson]

We have an entire month's notice to log into characters whose names we want to keep. An ENTIRE MONTH.

[Greycat]

16 minutes ago, Kaasha said:

I think the name release policy is a great addition to allow active players to have access to more available character names.  However, as one who has lots of characters, Is there some way to add a filter, button or some way to highlight ones characters who are viable for the name release?  I know we currently get the little hazard icon next to their name but going through each character page daily to check your characters would be quote cumbersome.  If there was a button we can press on that screen during login that would show just those that have hit the limit, it would be easily to highlight the characters that need attention a lot easier to manage.  Not sure if it's do-able or not.  Just tossing out the idea.

 

Ehh... I mean, the ones most "in danger" are level 1-5, given that's a 30 day timer. 6-49, you have a year.

 

Plus it takes effect in just under a month. That's a *lot* of time - and I say that as someone with a *lot* of characters.

 

On top of that, you kind of have to look at the character name itself. If it's "UltraGuy," it's more likely to have someone wanting that than "Juan de Santa Domingo ESQ" or "Supergroup base editor 1234."

[LKN-351]

1 hour ago, WindDemon21 said:

Really specific thing as well, but would there be a way, if you do have a toon gen'd due to the name policy takeover, that there could be a note or something beside it that shows what the name previously was? Sometimes I use the names too because I'll plan to do them to remind me of what the combo is, or just so you know if there is name you wanted to use and you can no longer find it in your list that you know what happened, or some sort of alert when a name of yours gets taken? Is it also possible for a sort feature on the character select screen as well to sort by last login, name, AT, powers, level?

 

One of the GMs said it wasnt a "gen'd" thing on a previous page in this thread (page 2 I think). The name just has a number added on, much like if you where to transfer a toon to a different server and someone already had the name lol or you forgot that you had one with the same name on that server.

 

In case anyone else wonders, I'm 90% sure if I transfered my main (LKN-351) to a server that I had a toon with that name it would end up being LKN-352 (or LKN-353 if I had already taken LKN-352)

but if the toons name was Superdude and the name release hit him it would be Superdude1 NOT Generic###

You get gen'd for violating the name policy, you get a number appended if it's a name release.

[Seed22]

1 hour ago, Greycat said:

Ehh... I mean, the ones most "in danger" are level 1-5, given that's a 30 day timer. 6-49, you have a year.

 

This part right here is why I actually really like this name change. Getting to 6 gives you a whole year, which hopefully you’ll be able to get to 50 and be set forever

[Ukase]

This might be a stupid question. Heck, it must be! 

There's being "in game" and there's being logged in, on the character select screen. 

Does being on the character select screen count as multi-boxing?  (for example, right now, I have two accounts "logged in", but no characters have been selected yet, with a 3rd account that's actively playing as normal) 

I usually do this for when Adamastor is about to be up. Log 'em in, they're already there and I don't have to sweat the commute. Occasionally, it's for transfer of various salvage or recipes. But for the most part, it's just one account at a time nowadays. 

I just want to make sure being on the character select page with multiple accounts is okay. 

[GM Crumpet]

6 hours ago, mistagoat said:

For Hami raids, I log in about 30 min before invites go out to ensure I get into the zone before it fills. I'll often put myself on a TF/AE mission so I wont AFK out during this time and I can do some house work or play with the cats without fear of losing my spot in the Abyss. About 5 min before invites go out I quit that TF and I'll join the league when the call goes out and actively participate in the pounding of Hami.

 

Would this method be disallowed under the new CoC?

 

I would assume not as I don't believe that would be disruptive behavior but It's a pretty important point of clarification because if I were to be moved out of the Abyss, it would be unlikely that I could get back in to participate in the raid. I'd feel much better if this could be clarified.

I can't imagine it being an issue. You aren't AFK during the raid itself, you just want to get in early and not get logged out. I assume you quit the TF to join the raid and enjoy a bit of jelly action. Sounds quite sensible to me.

[Emerald Fusion]

Regarding claiming an inactive name; Does the rename function on an existing character work to obtain an inactive name?  Or do we need to make a new character to obtain an inactive name?

Thanks!

[GM_GooglyMoogly]

1 hour ago, Ukase said:

Does being on the character select screen count as multi-boxing? 

 

No, two or more accounts, in game, at the same time.