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Logan D

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Everything posted by Logan D

  1. I've not yet read any of his Star Wars novels. I'm going to have to hunt them down now. It's on my to-do list now. I'd say what Liaden did, but he said it all better than me. He was a huge influence in my gaming life. His name on a book was a guarantee it was going to be good. And that guarantee never ever failed. I just want to add... I was a huge fan of his Doc SIdhe books. And I always hoped he'd get around to writing a 3rd one. Now it'll never be. DAMNIT. Multiple fandoms have lost a friend, a guru, and a mentor. I'm feeling just gutpunched over this. I met Aaron a couple of times at Dallas cons and he was incredibly gracious. His wit was incredible. His puns were ATROCIOUS (And thus, awesome). He was the Hoopiest of Froods.
  2. Re: Curious about your view on the current state of CO. (Anybody still play regularly Oh good. Nice to see there wasn't some out of game emergency or something that curtailed you from posting on the forums. Always did like your postings on the lore thread. Though I can guess that could get old eventually. (I posted as "Aariny" at the time - with the Gatchaman themed icon. That is - before today, when they nuked the forums, and our identities, and our character web pages... *sigh*) The questionite thing annoys me. Just as the Dilithium currency in STO annoys me. They are both currencies that allow you to buy rare things. Why not call it by the name of a CURRENCY rather than an in-game element that's supposed to be rare? In STO it could have been called Latinum. They already HAD latinum in the game, and now it's pretty much useless for anything. In Champions... I'm not sure. But they are pretty straight-forward about calling specific influence pips with Primus and Until as "tokens". Why not just go that literal? PWE's decision-making is just STRANGE. I get the sense that they keep trying to bend these games into the Asian style grind format. And I just think they STILL haven't figured out that that format doesn't work very well in the western market. Anyway, I just treat them as currencies and ignore any attempt to tie it to the game world. Except where it directly intersects. As an example - Recently in STO they introduced a dilithium mining mini-game. Now THAT I'll do, because it is an interaction that makes sense. I won't do it more than occasionally. But as a gathering activity it's no worse than mining was in WOW. And hey - it's ASTEROID mining! In a spacesuit! Which is actually kinda cool. As for Gravitar... You have a point. When she was first introduced she was kinda Paris Hilton with superpowers. I was thinking more about her later mentions such as in Mechanon, Book of the Machine Champions: News of the World, where she seemed to have grown up somewhat. As for wanting to bitchslap Gravitar... well I'll let you know how that feels when it happens. So far it's been nothing but her bitchslapping whole teams. I have yet to be on a successful run. And I got sick of it damn quick. If something is impossible, I won't play it. I don't play games to get frustrated over and over again.
  3. So I'm wondering. Are the changes made by PWE to the Champions Online causing frustration to the point where people from here who played are leaving or curtailing their time in the game? I'm still playing, but I notice that a lot of old regulars don't seem to be around anymore. I also noticed that Lord Liaden stopped posting in the lore thread months ago. Anybody know what's up with that? Is he ok? I know that I'm not really happy with the way that PW is handling the region blocking and the "genericcing" of the forums in both STO and CO. The alert systems can be fun. But they're also very repetitive and grindy after a while and not very friendly to the lore of the IP. Speaking of Lore continuity - WHAT CONTINUITY? In fact - what lore? They have this MOUNTAIN of lore they could use to expand the game world and they do practically nothing with it. Or outright ignore it. *sigh* The region blocking doesn't affect me. And the forums will go on, but it won't look as nice and there will be less personality to them. Hopefully the build guides will still be accessible. So I'm not suggesting that I'm not still having fun. Or that the game is "dying". But... You have to wonder what's up when the vast majority of the devs are moved to Neverwinter Nights or Star Trek Online and the latest "perk" for lifetime subscribers is to be given beta access to NWN... I mean... (flat) what. I still love the game. I want it to do well. The character creator is STILL hands down the most robust of any MMO I can think of. The combat is still fun. There's still a community there and RP to be found. (though not supported by the devs, apparently, and in some cases actively stomped on - thanks for removing locations like the dojo (arms store) from the game where people actually used it for RP as well as it's original function. *shakes head sadly* Way to support your players, devs... ) But man, I don't know about all these changes. And PWE... damn... Can I just say the unthinkable, here? I can hardly believe it myself, but... I'm starting to miss Atari.
  4. Re: Who died in the 'Who Will Die ?' story arc Actually they have now replaced Statesman and Sister Psyche where they were standing in the open world giving missions. So yes - technically there is no Statesman Task Force or Sister Psyche's Task Force anymore. (though the old Task Forces - and badges! - can still be accessed through the Ouroboros Time portal zone.) What WAS the Statesman Task Force is now given by Ms. Liberty. It's more or less the same Task Force (but called something different now, with a few minor detail points changed. I can't recall the name off the top of my head at the moment.) (Which is a touch odd since she's now standing in Atlas as a trainer but ALSO in Independence Port as a Task Force contact. But that's hardly the weirdest thing I've ever seen in an MMO. All the Task Force givers were ALSO standing in Base Trident as well. *shrug* It's basically assumed that when you're looking at an NPC in one location in the game that they just aren't at the other location. Magic time-bending MMO bendy wendy timey wimey...) Sister Psyche's Task Force has been completely replaced. Penelope Yin is now aged a couple of years and is now a legal adult and the youngest member of the Freedom Phalanx in Sister Psyche's place. (And I have to say - her costume is VERY COOL.) As a Task Force contact she now gives out the Penelope Yin Task Force, which awards a badge and counts toward the Freedom Phalanx TF Commander badge in the same manner that the old Sister Psyche Task Force did. It's actually a MUCH tighter, and more fun task force. It runs fast, has good plot elements. And it actually is a follow-up to the events of the old Sister Psyche Task Force. Just to re-iterate - the old Task Forces that were handed out by Statesman and SP can still be run from the Ouroboros system. I imagine there was a few months of lead time between the time that Statesman and SP died and the time they were removed from the game in order to give players every opportunity to tie up loose ends and run the task forces before they were officially removed. I know my supergroup ran the Statesman and Sister Psyche TFs several times in the final week before the change-over. Mostly with our newer characters in order to get the badges and all. And as a final "goodbye". Usually events in City of Heroes seem to have that kind of delay. As in - there will be some major event, but it will be the NEXT issue release of the game where the actual effects are made permanent in the game world. Time is strange in MMOs. Lunch time doubly so. There's been some speculation that Matt Miller was removing the last vestiges of Jack Emmert from the game, since Statesman and Sister Psyche were both characters that he created personally. But that logic tends to fail when you realize that the characters still exist as elements of the history of the game world and you can still see them and access their missions through Ouroboros. In other words - they were not "Stalinized" from the game the way that the 5th Column originally were back in 2005. There's been further speculation (and fan requests) to have prominent statues of Statesman and Sister Psyche as part of new Zone revamps further down the line. They're talking very seriously right now about revamping Kings Row and it's a given that Steel Canyon will be updated to the newer, shinier look. In Blyde's Square, where Positron and Valkyrie hang out, there is an ENORMOUS statue there of some unknown hero with goggles. That same character design as a statue appears in Peregrine Island and the (former) Galaxy City. Perhaps that statue could be replaced with one of Statesman or Sister Psyche? (Or both?) Anyway - nothing concrete there (rim-shot!) just speculation.
  5. Re: List Your CO Heroes! I have been (with a few nitpicks here and there) been rather impressed with CO since about this time last year. Even more so since F2P began. So I've involved myself more in the game. I still don't play it as much as City of Heroes. But it is at least competing more seriously for my time these days. So I have some new characters to show off. In some cases I have multiple costumes for the same character I'd like to share. And a few... wacky concepts. Let's start with one of the wackier ones, eh? I Present to you - Gentleman Scientist "Now, I know what you're thinking, old boy. 'Did he fire for six seconds, or only five?' Well, to be perfectly frank, in all the kerfuffle I've quite lost track myself, what? But bearing in mind that this is a Manmelter 3600ZX, the most powerful handgun in the Empire, and would reduce your entire body mass to free carbon and hydrogen with the slightest pressure of my forefinger upon the trigger mechanism, you're behooved to ask yourself one question: 'Am I feeling fortunate?' Well? Are you, dear chap?" "Back off, you miscreant! I'm a SCIENTIST!" Gentleman Scientist is most definitely modeled on Nikola Tesla for his general look. With a few extra add-ons and such. This was made well before either the Tesla OR Steampunk packs were added to the game. But he really doesn't need either of them!
  6. Re: Champions Online - Cue Dead Parrot Sketch! Walking is a standard Keybind. But it's not automatically included. Go to options - Keybinds, and find the Walk command and link it to a key of your choice. Then walking is easy. But it's not a toggle. You have to hold down that key while moving in order to walk.
  7. Re: List Your CO Heroes! Oh and speaking of bios, I'm actually kinda proud of the one I came up with for Vectra. It's a shout out to Transformers, while never actually using the words "Transformers" "Cybertron", "Optimus Prime", "Autobot", or "Decepticon". Yet I think there's no QUESTION about what she is when you read it. And she's speaking to the reader directly as well. And all of that within the limited character allowances of the in-game bio screen.
  8. Re: List Your CO Heroes! Shotgun Mary is just plain fun. From her thumbnail origin that I wrote in-game: "One of the Snake-Gulch robots that escaped the VIPER re-programming, Mary wanted to travel to Millenium City to help out. Dr. Tyrell Donaldson gave her his blessing and a synthskin face to more easily fit in." I was stuck for what travel power to give her. But then I decided to go with the silliest thing I could think of, given what she is. ROCKET JUMP! A Robot Cowgirl with twin pistols and a shotgun, and rockets in her feet, bounding over the landscape of the Southwest Desert. So, um, yeah. (And Cat 5 Ballou sounds fun. )
  9. Re: Champions Online - Cue Dead Parrot Sketch! Well! I must say I'm impressed. It appears they are listening. I'm cautiously optimistic. But I'd like to see actions as well as words. Still - even the initial changing of VB to free content and owning up to the mistakes made already is huge. (And those screenshots are awesome!) I'm not quite ready to eat crow just yet. But I'm surveying the menu for appetizers.
  10. Re: List Your CO Heroes! (Moved from another thread since this area is more appropriate)
  11. Re: Champions Online - Cue Dead Parrot Sketch! Cogent points all. I like many of the things you mention here. Let's just say - I hope I'm wrong and that I get to eat some finely cooked crow. I would like for the game to succeed and do well.
  12. Re: Champions Online - Cue Dead Parrot Sketch!
  13. Re: Champions Online - Cue Dead Parrot Sketch! Well one would HOPE that'd be the case. But they already have their NEXT MMO in the pipe, so... *shrug*
  14. Re: Champions Online - Cue Dead Parrot Sketch! Point taken. I suppose I COULD defend my statement on the grounds that I PERSONALLY had never played those games, therefore I would still have been correct in saying that I MYSELF had never PERSONALLY seen a FUBAR of that magnitude, but that would be stretching a technical point to cover for my hyperbole. In any event. *Ahem* I posted about this in another board, and a friend who played CO and has moved on to STO had this to say: So, yeah. Point taken. Lesson learned. The devil is in the details and as much in what is NOT said as what IS said. The devil himself would be proud of Cryptic. That's some first class leading on by omission, there.
  15. Re: Champions Online - Cue Dead Parrot Sketch! I'd like to think they'll turn this around and make things right. But apparently, according to this poster here - http://forums.champions-online.com/showpost.php?p=1466959&postcount=18 -they are doing many of the same things with Star Trek Online. One MORE thing for you to consider: Take a close look at Atari's statement of their business strategy: http://corporate.atari.com/infogramesgb/2007/04/strategy_1.php I present it with no further comments. Just read it and interpret it. I'd be interested to see if you came to the same conclusions I did.
  16. Well. Maybe you may have heard of the shenanigans over in Champions Online. Maybe you haven't. In a nutshell - they released the game in what most people consider to have been a "non-complete" status, to use the polite term. And have essentially done squat with it except do half-assed bug fixes since then. People (including me) have been holding out hope that there would be more actual content released. And hoping that the game (which, at it's core, is a good system) would be supported at least as well as Cryptic did with City of Heroes. Well it hasn't worked out like that. The "big announcement" that Cryptic PR people made was the announcement of a few features like "flashback" systems (hmmm... that sounds familiar), a difficulty slider (even more familiar) some new costume pieces, and "Vibora Bay" a new city zone (on the coast of Florida) that would cover content from level 37-40. But it's paid content. That's it. That's all there is. No raise of the level cap to 50. No "full zones" for free. For perspective, in the same time-frame of City of Heroes opening to 5-6 months in, there were 3 free updates that added 7 new zones, capes, multiple costume slots, costume tailoring, 4-5 new enemy groups. graphics upgrades, renovation and addition of new maps for missions, and oodles of new costume pieces. All for free. How the mighty have fallen. Overall opinion, despite Cryptic's claims to the contrary, is that CO has been left fallow and most of the development team was reassigned to Star Trek Online. Leaving CO as the "red-headed step child". Here are some primers. Amazingly enough, there's been little actual "Flaming" going on at the forums. Most people are posting well thought out responses. Even the "see you later, I'm out of here" posts are polite. But the exodus is relentless. http://forums.champions-online.com/showthread.php?t=99469 The above thread has attempts at a time-line of events and is probably the quickest overall look at what has happened, but the following threads show other perspectives and opinions as well. http://forums.champions-online.com/showthread.php?t=98554 http://forums.champions-online.com/showthread.php?t=98958 http://forums.champions-online.com/showthread.php?t=99007 I THANK GOD I didn't buy a lifetime subscription. And those of you who might be thinking of buying one for Star Trek Online, you'd better look DAMN LONG AND HARD at what Cryptic did here before even CONSIDERING giving them ONE RED CENT. When you have hardcore Cryptic Defenders like this leaving the game - http://forums.champions-online.com/showthread.php?t=99636 When the company rep (Daeke) who made the announcement of Vibora Bay being paid content is fired (apparently) for mentioning the part about Vibora being paid content early (and thank GOD he did) - http://forums.champions-online.com/showthread.php?t=99488 http://forums.champions-online.com/showthread.php?t=99523 When even the people who organized the Wiki are asking "what's the point of logging on anymore?" http://forums.champions-online.com/showthread.php?t=99525 When lifetime subscribers are saying they feel like they got screwed without even being taken out for dinner. http://forums.champions-online.com/showthread.php?t=99687 I'd say it's time to start the betting pool for when the servers will be shut down. I've already canceled my subscription. I may check back in another few months and see what there is to see. But for now I'm back to playing City of Heroes. This is not in any way a schadenfreude moment. I'm genuinely sorry to see this happen. I liked lots of things about CO. I think the game itself would have loads of potential even now in the hands of a developer that gave a shit about it. I've been a Champions fanboy since being introduced to the 4th edition version of the Pen and Paper game in 1992. I have close to 97% of all paper products they've produced since that time. If I gathered all the Champions books I own in one place and stacked them, I think they'd easily go from floor to ceiling and then some. I have NEVER seen a company FUBAR an IP like this so badly before. NEVER. And I worry that the fallout will hurt Hero Games in the process. This is a game that has SO MUCH potential. The lore is incredibly deep (more so if you know the background from the books, like I do). And it's being left to ROT because of corporate bean counters. To say that I'm incensed would be to say that Hiroshima was a pretty big explosion.
  17. Re: Music to Kill Zombies By You are in a mall when the zombies attack. You have: 1. one weapon. 2. one song blasting on the speakers. 3. one famous person to fight alongside you. Okay - The relatively realistic approach. I'm still me. I am NOT good at melee. But I have a steady hand and could be good fire support and/or back-up for someone up who IS. That said, let's not take any fucking chances! I want to HIT the target, FIRST time, EVERY TIME! I think the following ought to just about guarantee THAT! The WEAPON: The SONG: The Famous Person: JACKIE CHAN (And the following video isn't even the best of the best of his stuff! But it DOES showcase one of the best examples of using your environment to your best advantage, which would be important in the "Zombies at the Mall" scene!)
  18. Re: A DC Animated-style HeroMachine Here are some Hero-machine versions of Heroes from our City of Heroes Supergroup - The Legendary. First up is Vigdis Brightblade, a Broadsword/Willpower scrapper. Space Mage - Dark/Energy Blast Defender Kara Skye - Gravity/Kinetics controller Lora'Lai - A Kheldian Peacebringer Bella Fuego - a Fire/Fire Blaster Evangelia - Broadsword/Invulnerability Scrapper Superball - Martial Arts/Invulnerability Scrapper Looney Toons - Storm/Electrical Defender and lastly, Cyberman 8 - Martial Arts/Super Reflexes Scrapper (And my homage to 8 Man)
  19. Re: A DC Animated-style HeroMachine I considered that, but based on the original art on the 4th Ed Champions book and others, I don't think his skin looked "faceted". Just really really dark. "Space-black" as it were.
  20. Re: Menton is up The more I see of the art, the more I am convinced that Cryptic just took some original concept art (both for characters and locations) that they were going to use for the Marvel MMO and just did the "minimal" amount of tweaking and filing of the serial numbers so as not to be sued. In fact, I'd be willing to bet hard cash an exchange something like the following took place - "So guys. We need to bring Menton in. Got any art that screams "I'M A MENTALIST!" ? "Uhm... hang on, let me check the files. I think I saw something... oh yeah, here we go, Pulsating Brain Boy!" "Perfect!" "Say, don't we want to look at the background for the original character?" "Who cares? We own the IP now, change the background to fit the art." I am less and less impressed as we go along. If Foxbat doesn't look like what he's supposed to look like, I will completely wash my hands of the whole thing and delete the links and forget it ever happened.
  21. Re: A DC Animated-style HeroMachine Solitaire, both with her hood back and with it up. Can't make Widget. Though if you like, you can say that her cloak clasp is Widget in resting mode, maybe?
  22. Re: A DC Animated-style HeroMachine Sapphire
  23. Re: A DC Animated-style HeroMachine Obsidian
  24. Re: A DC Animated-style HeroMachine Here's Defender.
  25. Re: A DC Animated-style HeroMachine I like it, but I hope you don't mind that I felt the need to tweak it a bit?
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