08 Sep, 2010

 (More)

07 Sep, 2010

 (More)

06 Sep, 2010

 (More)

05 Sep, 2010

 (More)

04 Sep, 2010

 (More)

03 Sep, 2010

 (More)

02 Sep, 2010

 (More)

01 Sep, 2010

 (More)

01 Sep, 2010

 (More)

30 Aug, 2010

 (More)

30 Aug, 2010

Many a new player comes into the game trying to duplicate an existing hero.  Some are direct rip-offs of Marvel and DC characters, changing the name by adding an extra character or two, and have violating background information coming from the same sources.   Since the Marvel lawsuit of several years ago, NCSoft makes a good effort at identifying such characters and giving them the heave-ho by renaming the character to GENERIC , giving them a number and a blank uniform.   Some characters are in grey areas -- where one of their uniforms MIGHT remind you of a copyright even if their name doesn't.   Movie characters are also duped; The recent Avatar movie had multiple blue skinned archer characters complete with pony-tails and tails visit Paragon.   But most didn't last.  I suppose it is to be expected.   The fine print of the EULA isn't read by many, even though they have to accept it to log in.   I've seen level 50 character complain to no end when they suddenly go generic for copying a video game character.   But other people's copyrights need to be protected as well.

The other day I was on the Freedom Server and noticed a character believe I've seen long ago -- Starborn. I researched it and there is a complete alliance of groups on Guildportal based on the groups he's created. Starborn Alliance

Now the name caught my eye because Stan Lee has created a character called Starborn. Using the same name that has been in City of Hero for what? Months? Years? I'm wondering if the MMO character and the group in City will be at risk. If City of Heroes owns the copyrights to all the characters we create, could this be used to sue the Boom-Studios for copyright violation?

Considering that we have had multiple servers with hundreds of thousand users playing for years, I'm surprised this backward violation has NOT happened before. I for one will be watching to see if anything is done, one way or another...

06 Jul, 2010

05 Jul, 2010

04 Jul, 2010

03 Jul, 2010

02 Jul, 2010

 (More)

01 Jul, 2010

30 Jun, 2010

29 Jun, 2010

28 Jun, 2010

27 Jun, 2010

26 Jun, 2010

25 Jun, 2010

24 Jun, 2010

23 Jun, 2010

31 Mar, 2010

I've been neglecting this far too long.  So here are a few quick comments.

03 Jan, 2010

Sometimes the AFK lines make you wonder -- Out for a cigarette maybe?

02 Jan, 2010

A rather famous player character -- Sometimes you can hear a NPC on the phone saying "Ascendant who?" .   I've not seen much of the Liberty League lately...

01 Jan, 2010

Jurassik in Atlas -- the tail end of a Supernatural event

31 Dec, 2009

30 Dec, 2009

The new supernatural activity banner events still occur -- even after Halloween.  A tad less often.  Check the sky color -- GREEN means Rikti, RED means Zombies, GREY means Banner.

29 Dec, 2009

Anyone else getting the Cable vibe here?

28 Dec, 2009

27 Dec, 2009

27 Dec, 2009

26 Dec, 2009

Merry Christmas everyone!

25 Dec, 2009

24 Dec, 2009

23 Dec, 2009

22 Dec, 2009

Sometimes people make those characters that make you shudder...

21 Dec, 2009

20 Dec, 2009

Why am I not surprised?

19 Dec, 2009

17 Dec, 2009

17 Dec, 2009

 (More)

16 Dec, 2009

16 Dec, 2009

15 Dec, 2009

15 Dec, 2009

14 Dec, 2009

14 Dec, 2009

 (More)

13 Dec, 2009

13 Dec, 2009

12 Dec, 2009

12 Dec, 2009

11 Dec, 2009

11 Dec, 2009

10 Dec, 2009

10 Dec, 2009

09 Dec, 2009

09 Dec, 2009

08 Dec, 2009

08 Dec, 2009

07 Dec, 2009

07 Dec, 2009

06 Dec, 2009

Several different things here -- I'm starting off another mega posting barrage for the month of December.   I went into a hiatus after DragonCon again and want to get back into the swing of things.  So expect several covers and screenshots over the next few weeks.

06 Dec, 2009

06 Dec, 2009

25 Nov, 2009

One of the things I've done this month is log into a LOT of old characters.  Practically all my characters on Virtue and Freedom, which is easily over 40 toons.  Of course that got the new Vigilant badge on a lot of toons.  I found a few that had been in day-job areas for ages that got some decent rewards.  It was a lot of fun to see which groups were active and kicked inactive toons, and which ones went inactive and the entire roster hasn't been there for weeks or months, save for a few individuals.

13 Oct, 2009

We're on the eve of the annual Halloween event -- what will they do new this year? 

08 Sep, 2009

 (More)

07 Sep, 2009

 (More)

06 Sep, 2009

06 Sep, 2009

05 Sep, 2009

05 Sep, 2009

04 Sep, 2009

03 Sep, 2009

03 Sep, 2009

02 Sep, 2009

02 Sep, 2009

01 Sep, 2009

01 Sep, 2009

31 Aug, 2009

30 Aug, 2009

29 Aug, 2009

 (More)

28 Aug, 2009

27 Aug, 2009

10 Aug, 2009

Lots of things going on these past few days or so.

06 Aug, 2009

05 Aug, 2009

02 Aug, 2009

01 Aug, 2009

31 Jul, 2009

30 Jul, 2009

29 Jul, 2009

28 Jul, 2009

27 Jul, 2009

26 Jul, 2009

25 Jul, 2009

24 Jul, 2009

22 Jul, 2009

21 Jul, 2009

20 Jul, 2009

19 Jul, 2009

18 Jul, 2009

17 Jul, 2009

16 Jul, 2009

15 Jul, 2009

14 Jul, 2009

13 Jul, 2009

12 Jul, 2009

11 Jul, 2009

10 Jul, 2009

09 Jul, 2009

08 Jul, 2009

07 Jul, 2009

06 Jul, 2009

04 Jul, 2009

04 Jul, 2009

03 Jul, 2009

02 Jul, 2009

01 Jul, 2009

Starting some GROUP covers here

30 Jun, 2009

29 Jun, 2009

28 Jun, 2009

27 Jun, 2009

26 Jun, 2009

25 Jun, 2009

 (More)

24 Jun, 2009

23 Jun, 2009

22 Jun, 2009

21 Jun, 2009

20 Jun, 2009

19 Jun, 2009

18 Jun, 2009

17 Jun, 2009

16 Jun, 2009

Trying to catch up with covers, and pre-date some entries again... :)

26 Apr, 2009

The Architect system has its ups and downs.  There are some real dud missions -- overpowered, or with bugs in the scripting that take away from the fun of the adventure.  Others are full of really dumb enemies and items that just don't make sense.  But that isn't really what the system is being used for.  (More)

22 Apr, 2009

I got involved on a "photo-shoot" on the Test Server yesterday.   
 (More)

16 Apr, 2009

15 Apr, 2009

14 Apr, 2009

12 Apr, 2009

10 Apr, 2009

06 Apr, 2009

05 Apr, 2009

Liberty League player -- you don't see them OFTEN, but they are still around.

04 Apr, 2009

Some people will play ANYTHING

03 Apr, 2009

03 Apr, 2009

Impressive looking character -- reminds me of several, while still being original.

02 Apr, 2009

Archer character -- good name and look.  I believe he won the costume contest I saw him in...

01 Apr, 2009

Talsorian claws here --  And a very unique face.  I'm not sure how it was achieved.

31 Mar, 2009

I love this costume -- I've seen several characters go for a "Sister" look lately.

30 Mar, 2009

Costume Contest -- again

29 Mar, 2009

Costume Contest - a daily event (and then some) on Virtue.

28 Mar, 2009

Pocket D -- With villains galore.  You'll never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy.  To coin a phrase...

27 Mar, 2009

Every once and a while either the Cheerleaders or the schoolgirl groups pop up...

27 Mar, 2009

Just FYI --Real life.   I go into the hospital today for Outpatient surgery today.  Wish me luck.

26 Mar, 2009

Mud Dauber versus Babbage -- another angle

25 Mar, 2009

Nice use of rewarded costume pieces.  The shows and toga are not standard equipment.

24 Mar, 2009

American Archeress (FLAG) shown with some others.  Notice the Football player toon -- A nice use of assorted pieces to achieve the look.  I've seen Baseball players and even basketball players, but never a Football player.

23 Mar, 2009

22 Mar, 2009

Ever look a a tech salvage bin CLOSELY?  I never noticed the City of Heroes comic book seen here in the center of the shot.

21 Mar, 2009

I've seen a lot of the TAXIBOTS showing up in Paragon lately -- here seen in Steel Canyon.

20 Mar, 2009

One of a couple shots from Mud Dauber's Task Force Vortex taking on Babbage.

19 Mar, 2009

Another Zombie raid in Atlas Park.   These seem to go on FOREVER any more.  But they do usually mean 1 to 4 easy badges...

18 Mar, 2009

Sorry for the washout colors -- it was a night shot.  These two FLAG members are played by the same person.  THAT's a feat I've not tried.

18 Mar, 2009

Taking a different tack for this installment.  Looking at the FLAG base.  When this was taken, this new group had only 6 rooms.  But through the use of high ceilings and EXTENSIVE stacking, the base looks FAR more elaborate.   To show it I've take a video via XFIRE, and pasted the link above.  Sorry for the remote storage.

Note:

• Counters used as beds -- with large floor plates as bedspreads.
• Lamps used to mimic a shower stall
• Multiple bookshelves encompassing the base of transparent barriers.
• Embeded transparrent barriers as walls for walkways
• Enclosed entrance way
• Partially hidden Combo control unit.
• Use of multiple vents to make a "door" for the Longbow flyer

15 Mar, 2009

14 Mar, 2009

GOTGA Golden age gala

14 Mar, 2009

The first weekend of March was busy -- and has had its share of odd stuff.

I've still been toying with Tanker ideas, without much success. But I've also been running into some odd groups.  One such was the Sixth Column that has recently opened up a group on Virtue.  I joined with a Assault Rifle Device Blaster called Nacht Scharfschütze (Which would translate to Night Shaprshooter).  I've already got him up to level 12.   The base they have is extensive, with heavy stacking used in its construction.  The auditorium was magnificently done and very impressive. 

Furiona got into a Synapse taskforce, even though she max-leveled amost immediately into it.  It did take several hours to complete, but was highly profitable.  Not only did we get the badges for Babbage and the King, but got a huge amount of merit rewards.  I'm still not use to this change in the reward system for Task forces, having only done a handful lately.   In addition, one of the recipe salvages turned out to be something she couldn't use so I went to Wentworths.  This one turned out to be valuable with prices going from 10 to 30 million.  I put a price on it of 20 million.   Doing so left me with only 3 million.  I went to Atlas and was looking around, noting Supergroups.  One hero came up and essentially declared me the winner of a costume contest and handed over 4 million influence, saying he loved the look and bio.    SHORTLY after that, the recipe sold for 23 million plus -- letting her jump to 30 million influence.  That easily makes her the richest toon I have on the server.  The next time I played her ANOTHER recipe was discovered and sold, this time for another 13 million.  I don't know what is going on with her and salvage -- but I like it.  She's now part of Grey Enterprises.

Mud-Dauber was recreated and ran up as well, joining the Bug Club, making another go at an insect theme supergroup.  He also got into a synapse task force, but it ran long.  WAY long.  And after entering the final mission the ISP dropped connection and he ended up getting shorted the TF completion bonus.  He did get the badge - just not the completion reward of merits.  However the mission did take him from 16 to nearly 21.   I've been trying to do base building and recruiting with him, without much luck.

 

13 Mar, 2009

Wider shot of DJ Torch salute

12 Mar, 2009

Tribute to DJ before the 4th annual Golden Age Festival

11 Mar, 2009

Most people never read the EULA -- but have to agree to it everytime they log into the City games. And yet they frequently use the character creaation systme to make clones. Its sad really. It is possible to do homage characters without doing blatant rip-offs. And some of these people can get all the way to 50 before "caught", and they get their name changed to GENERIC ### ###, and usually their costumes get reset to norm. EVERY time there is a superhero movie release there follows a bout of short-lived COH copycats. At a costume contest I saw the following group of Rorshack, Ozymandias, Brown Owl (?), Silk Spectre, John Manhattan, and The Comedian. All level 1 characters. And their presence did start a debate on the global channel that seemed to insult those who thought it wrong that such characters were made!

Some players are VERY blatant, including copyrighted items in their background as seen below.  This just BEGS to be genericed.

 

So far this month I've seen Multiple Owls and Silk Spectres, One Greatest American Hero, Someone doing a Punisher Smurf combo (Smurfs have popped up several times...), A human Torch, The Doctor (As from Doctor Who, Seen above), an X-men Sentinel, DC's Hawkman, Marvel's Speedball, Megaman (video game), Daniel Jackson (Stargate SG1), and Lt. John Sheppard (Stargate Atlantis). Everyone of which is a EULA violation. The one thing is that every clone I see? I never see again. I suspect that they got Genericed or renamed. And I've seen a couple people complaining on the Broadcast or Help channels about their genericed characters. Sorry people --- I've NO sympathy what so ever.

This is wrong. The game has already been sued once BECAUSE of this. I can see some people trying to see IF they can get the character creation to DO a character, but not to actually be played. Doing so is a EULA violation -- as such you can get reported at anytime by anyone in the game. And LOTS of VETS make a habit of reporting clones. Why invest the time in playing a character only to have the rug pulled out from under you? Be safe. Be creative. Be yourself.

11 Mar, 2009

Odd trio? Seen waiting for a bank safeguard mission

10 Mar, 2009

Furiona - my fire Controller, takes on a Zombie Raid in Steel Canyon

09 Mar, 2009

Fire Imps from at least 4 Fire Controllers invade Atlas Park

08 Mar, 2009

I've been seeing a lot of armored characters lately -- and not Iron Man clones...  PPD groups account for a lot of them

07 Mar, 2009

Nice look, but then I'm fond of Green/Black costumes...

06 Mar, 2009

Falcon Crush -- obviously having a fondess for Nintendo's F-Zero game...

05 Mar, 2009

A PPD officer -- nice use of the samarui helmet touches on a half helm.  Old Bob is next to him --*sigh*

04 Mar, 2009

I've been hearing about these for ages, and finally Sunday night I stumbled into them.  First Sir Britainic, then Flagborn, and finally Fast Neutrino participated in sequential Rikti Raids.  This was more than enough to get both Talsorian Sword and Shield for Sir, almost all of the Vanguard armor for Flagborn, and a few more pieces of it for Fast Neutrino.  Hosted by DJ Posthaste of the Cape Radio, this apparently is a monthly event held on the First Sunday of the month.

Earlier that weekend, I had successfully earned Talsorian swords for Crusading Cavalier. Doing it by Raid was far faster.  Flagborn earned around 600 Vanguard Merits.  The others only got a few hundred.  I'm not sure if level played a part in that.

Flagborn also participated in a Respec TF.  And I got a new Tanker going.  Geo Lad is a stone tanker (my umpteenth attempt at one).  But he's had a good start -- at level 3 he won 2 million influence in a CC.  I'm tempted to get him into the All Star Teen Sentinels, although several have suggested the Young Gods.

16 Feb, 2009

It looks like we have this event returning again on February 21st 8pm-11pm EST in the Emerald Lobby of the Galaxy City Arena.  

The Festival festivities will include:
2 Golden Age costume contests
1 Silver Age costume contest
A character bio/backstory contest
An emote/battlecry contest  (design a battlecry to go along with an emote)
City of Heroes Trivia contest
A Best of Show contest

Prizes galore will be rewarded and it will be a wonderful chance to meet and greet fellow true blue heroes.

27 Jan, 2009

Double XP weekend was productive this time around.  I had focused on a new character which had taken off.  I had started it a week beforehand on a whim.  Since my broadsword shield scrapper female had lost its appeal due to its group problems, I wanted to try a more traditional male version.  I ended up with a decent costume that evolved into a brittish look I really liked.  And quickly got plenty of comments off of it, which also drove its play time up.  Early on I had also lucked into a rare recipe that I sold for 10 million influence which financed him until just a day or so ago, along with other Wentworth income, albeit far smaller revenues.  There were 1.5 million in costume contest wins.. 

ALSO making it fun was hitting upon a group his first day or so called the Justice Guard.  Who should be co-founder of the group but an old friend -- Feuer-Konig, from years ago , back in the SERAPH Team one/Fast Neutrino days.

By the time last Friday rolled around, Sir Britainic had already reached level 25 or so.  By the end of the weekend he had hit 36.  Considering he's had less than 2 weeks play time, I consider that quite an accomplishment.  Fast Neutrino also hit 42, getting a level while taking on Imperious Task Force in the new Cimerora zone.   Sir Britainic wasn't high enough at the time JG was running ITF, and got into another group before their plans changed and they decided to do ITF after all.  Fast Neutrino DID join JG as well. The ITF was QUITE an experience, with some aspects I had not expected.  A couple levels on Kid Arcane and others were also gotten in, but by far, Sir Brittainic has had most of the play.   Sir Britainic also spent enough time in the Cimerora on Sunday and Monday to earn the roman sword and shield costume pieces.   Also during that time, he's gotten some COVER time, if you know what I mean. 

As to the Double XP weekend, crowds were common, especially maxing out Freedom and Virtue in the evenings.  Even Infinity was pegging medium load.  On some times it was very hard to get into Virtue, requiring frequent tries until a window opened up. Curiously I always saw it as MEDIUM Load or FULL, but Never HIGH Load, except on one single occasion.  I don't know what their margins for HIGH are now, but it must be VERY narrow.   Some lag was noticed, the first I've experienced really since getting the new computer, so it was all SERVER side.  But in the end it was highly profitable time spent. 

06 Jan, 2009

There have been lots of odds and ends I've noticed over the past couple weeks.

New Kids "JLA" clone group -- I've seen this on Virtue pop up and propagate greatly.   First a Superman, then A Green Lantern, then a Wonder Woman, Black Canary, Batman, Hulk, Hawkwoman, Steel, Doctor Fate, and others.  Clone groups pop up every 8 to 12 months, and NEVER last.  One or more gets reported, and then blanked names and costumes get put into place as the EULA is enforced.  These pint-sized clones have lasted longer than others, but since the group name even has been changed once,  I suspect that they are already playing around the GMs and the EULA dangerously close.

Lots of trial accounts have been popping up -- you can tell this when someone is on a low level team and can't do any private tells because they are on a trial account.  I even had one such account ask me questions and then accuse ME of being lazy because I wouldn't power level him.  Several of these trial accounts have been obnoxious, and some were even insulting CoX players with names like "i laf at you all'.   While I enjoy seeing new people discover City of Heroes, so few trial account people seem to WANT to be here, and are just killing time.

I've tried to play some tanks of late, but they seem to be VERY slow in leveling.  More so than any other type I've played.

My new computer is chugging along.  I did have something weird happen last night during a Citadel TF.  Graphics started corrupting somehow.  Evertime I would get to a beach, or a sandy hill of a certain texture, it was overlayed with a crazy quilt of color.   This was even to start to be noticed on stairways before I called it a night. I'm hoping that this was a one-time thing, but i never got back in again to confirm it.

I'm still getting used to Issue 13 Task forces.   Instead of the chose your random drop menu at the end, it just simply shows a time of completion and gives you REWARD MERITs.  I got 50-60 for Synapse, and 30 last night for Citadel.  You can choose what you want.   Spending 8 awards gets you Single Origin enhancements at your max possible level, which can be very helpeful if you are doing one of the first few TFs at a low level.  Still it does take some getting used to.

More later.

22 Dec, 2008

After being gone for so long, I'm noticing things as I go through my characters.  I got lucky on some of them.  They were logged out before the last issue hit in some key places.   I've returned to several left at the Train station or Wentworths, to find them with new Day job badges.  Pretty Cool.

I'm still getting used to the new baby-blue marks in the Experience bar/circle.   That is something that needs some time getting used to.

I have noticed a few pieces of software that seem to work at first on Vista, and then develop problems.   WeGame for instance I've loaded, hoping to capture game footage.  But it refuses to start in game.   I've a graphics program that I was hoping to do some Red-eye correction with on some photos taken early last month -- but it fails to work or bombs completely.  I've still got another piece or two of software I was using.  I had to install some background software for my old G15 keyboard, as well as a particular piece to work with City of Heroes.  That is still pending. 

I cleared a few characters off of Virtue yesterday.  I really wanted the spaces, and well, they weren't getting play time.   I wanted to try the new Shield Defence on a few scrapper designs.   Unfortunately on scrappers it only works with Fire Melee, Dark Melee, Broadsword and Martial Artist.  A M/A Shield player would be TOO Captain America for my tastes.  Fire Melee kind of implies a fire elemental shield -- and that eliminates a lot of fun designs.  Of course you could always go tanker, but I have so LITTLE luck playing tanks.   I know I could get another character into Hero Dawn, but WHAT do I want to go for?  Since Crusading Cavalier is ALREADY a sword weilder, do I really want to go with another scrapper design?

I also noticed a few new groups here and there.   Bionic Brood caught my eye this weekend (Virtue --> See Cold-Defiance or a Dr. Cronk).  Especially since they are running a unique membership drive (First to recruit 10 members gets 5 million influence.) 

Of course I'm still getting used to the new frame rate on the PC-- there really is no way of comparing it to the old machine.  AND I might get some games I've avoided on the machine.  Especially since I've had to ignore several that required far more horsepower than my old machine could muster. 

Till next time.

13 Aug, 2008

I've still been playing Bellringer, but his group has hit a lull, as one of the main members has had computer problems.  I hope this group gets going again.  In the meantime I started doing another Psi/Mental blaster on virtue and he took off.  Thanks to a couple task forces, I had him to 20 in under a week - and kept going.  Originally his face was white, but after hitting twenty, I gave him the blue mask, and got the full cape.  I've been getting a lot of comments on his look.  Influences on him were the Supernova costume from DC (Booster Golds temporary alter-alter-ego),  My old character Starmax, and maybe a little bit of Starbrand in the name.  He and his group got some cover treatment of late.

13 Aug, 2008

From the release -- The Guns of Paragon are celebrating their 4th Anniversary as a Supergroup!!


What caught my eye was the Costume contest, but it isn't the ONLY event.   This is easily a 100 times the usual awards!




Check out the full post on the COH Forums  HERE .

06 Aug, 2008

If you have a toon on Virtue and are looking for a supergroup, come Saturday there is an event for you.   At the Galaxy City Arena, Sapphire section on Saturday (8/9), at 9 PM EST, several groups will be holding a recruitment event.  There is supposed to be some contest style events as well, so it would be a good time to show off your stuff and maybe make some new friends.  I'll most likely be there as one hero or another.

(23 days till Dragon*Con...)

19 Jun, 2008

Today's the last day for the invasion.  I've a couple characters close -- BOMBS seem the hardest to get.  The Rikti Heavies have been more readily present this time around.   Don't wait till tomorrow if you need to finish of the 3 badges for the accolade.  It HAS to be tonight.

A patch was installed yesterday that affects several things in game.  I heard a few odd complaints.  One was saying something about the Energy melee animations being changed.  Don't know about that.  Someone else was complaining about a skirt bug, that had all the women's skirts rotated or shifted somehow.  I've not see exactly what they are talking about there either.

I had been having a bad problem for the last couple weeks.   I first noticed it going through old alts to make sure they had the 4th anniversary badge.  On a Justice Villain alt, I found a dozen or so emails all spam.  So I used the new SPAM IGNORE button.  And got mapservered.  I came back and tried again. And got mapservered.  I think I was on the 4th or 5th time before I gave up and just deleted them.  As I logged off I heard complaints about the mapserver.  But it still didn't really dawn on me what was happening.

A later mission with a different character on a different server I got sidekicked into some Peregrine Portal missions.  While waiting for the team, I got a spam tell.  So I did what I always do.  Ignored the spammer.  And got mapservered.  When I came back the WHOLE team had been bumped, AND several users outside were complaining on broadcast.  I began to wonder -- Did I cause the event.   We still had people taking time getting to the Portal to do the mission so I repeated the command and walla -- everyone crashed again including me.

A couple days after that I found it wasn't only spam ignores, but others as well.  I did a global ignore during a costume contest when a player was being VERY loud, repetitive and annoying -- you know the type.  The ones that find out what binds can do and then make a bunch and HAVE to show them off.  Again and again and again.  One global ingore later and MAPSERVERED.  And when I got back you could see directly that 80% of the costume contest had left as well and was filtering back.

I reported it during the incidents stated above once I realized there was a problem.  But I never really got any feedback they were aware, understood and were going to do something.  But yesterday's patch DID cure the effect.  I did not like playing having to catch myself from doing ignores.  I run into a lot of players and spammers that just BEG to be ignored.   You don't know how much you get used to it until you can't any longer.

Enough soapbox time -- Catch you soon -- I should have some more of the weird and wacky picks to show.

28 May, 2008

I did promise some screenshots of this event -- and its taken me a month to get them up here... *sigh*. Between Beta and Go-Live of Issue 12, I've been more than distracted. Here goes

It started off -- gathering a crowd quickly.  This was on April 26th, and they'd been advertising about it lots!  Word spread and it quickly got crowded, even 20 minutes before hand.

By the time it rolled around to actually start the contest, we were bumping each other off the edges.  Eventually they were forced to move it outside the pools to give everyone elbow room.  Of course pets and powers were making thing lag.  About this time the first reports of Atlas Park 2 being formed came out, which easily meant a 100 characters in the zone -- MOST of which had to be under the globe.


They had several judges, and it took them forever to narrow it down.  With this lot -- it would.

It was the LARGEST turnout I've ever seen for a costume contest in years -- possibly double the largest I've seen before.  There were lots of characters around, and lots of good costumes.

25 May, 2008

There IS a Hospital in the hollows now.  Truth be told its a gurney in a sandbag alley by the entrance from Atlas Park.  Much like the safeguard missions do for a hospital.  WHICH changes the functionality of The Hollows CONSIDERABLY.

I noticed a couple binds that I had set up to do screenshots on one character were now PRESET on a new character.  Still not sure how or why that is, but I think that one of the bind save features must be at fault.

HIDE features have been enhanced -- you can control what lists you show up on, searches, globals, server lists, global channels, etc.  VERY neat when you are focusing on something, or are only on briefly and have one objective and don't want to be bothered with random tells-for-teams.

I noticed the global chat channels can be colored now.  Never noticed that, but I tried it a couple times and after zoning, the colors would revert.  Don't know If I'm setting it on the channel for everybody and it just gets reset, or what.  I did report it.  Don't forget they've increased the number of Chat channels -- great if you had to drop a Radio station for that new SG.

I love the fact that missions are marked by the level you took them at.  REALLY helpful when you level fast.

THIS weekend is a free activation weekend.  So if you were a past player of CoX, you can join in and take a look around.  I think you'll like what you see.

I've been trying for the last couple days a Psychic /Mental Blaster -- one of the new combos.   Its on Guardian, goes by the name Psirex.  I used to have a Virtue character, very similiar in name and origin, though he was an Illusion Controller.  Psirex is in the Earthclan Elite SG and I'm having fun with the build.  Of course seed influence from the SG helped.  And he won the Wentworth lottery with a dropped recipe that sold for 13.5 Million.  That REALLY helps.  He just made 16, and he's a great difference from other blasters I've tried.  And A great relief to run from my Controllers and scrappers.  He's gone through the first Midnighter arc.  It seems you need to be 35+ to go through the rest, so Doctor Futura or Manadroid might get some playtime soon on that point.

I love all the touches that have been made to the game.  SO many "Ohhhh they did THAT! NEAT!" moments.

More later...

21 May, 2008

It took forever to download when I finally got home tonight, but it is up and running.

1) I noted a difference on some of my binds.  Most particular are the ones that use the BORDER command.  It is no longer interpreted, and just is printed.  That means a lot of 3 color chat bubbles that have worked for years won't now.  I'm hoping that is a bug, and not the new status quo.

2) Hollows I finally got a look at with a low level character.  There is a trainer there now, Foreshadow, right by the AP Gate.  There is no hospital in the zone that I saw -- I didn't have an opportunity to need it though.  I found a new contact in the center of the, and she gave out both hunt and door missions around the Cherry Hills area.  Eventually that started expanding to the Four Seasons area, and finally to the Red river.    It seems odd to see Skulls, Lost, and Hellions mixed in with the usual Trolls and Outcast.  Even more peculiar was seeing Hydra in the Lake near the Red River area. I did end up with a hunt mission on them, and while doing that 2 Coralax popped up from under the water.  I've NEVER seen them on the hero side before.  A welcome surprise.

3) I'd expect population counts to return to normal, if not higher this week. I noticed Freedom was going to HIGH level activity already.  Everybody has been on the test system lately, and should return.

4) I like some of the little features a lot -- Sorting of contacts as Active, Inactive, and Detective. VERY helpful.  When I was teamed, Each mission was labeled as to what LEVEL it was for each character.  Even the character selection screens have a new feature that tells how many days it has been since you were last logged on with that character --- VERY helpful if you are doing lots of Alts, but have groups with 15 day activity requirements (or less). OR if you are trying to see which characters still need to be logged in to get the event badge.  (remember the 4th anniversary badge is only available for one more week.)  I think some people were having fun with the new FREE trays.  I'll probably use them for Macros, myself, since they are not shrunk with the rest of the user interface when you resize the Window Scale.  Not being shrunk, the macro labels will be EASILY readable.

5) Lots of new characters about, but most are useing new power combinations.  Cold/Cold defenders, Psionic /Mental domination Blasters, Fire/Fire Scrappers, Plant Controllers etc. You see new combinations abound right now.   And of course Villain side is going Epic Archetype crazy.

I expect to notice lots more soon.  But this is just a first glance.

26 Apr, 2008

24 Apr, 2008

23 Apr, 2008

22 Apr, 2008

21 Apr, 2008

20 Apr, 2008

19 Apr, 2008

18 Apr, 2008

17 Apr, 2008

16 Apr, 2008

15 Apr, 2008

14 Apr, 2008

12 Apr, 2008

08 Apr, 2008

07 Apr, 2008

06 Apr, 2008

05 Apr, 2008

04 Apr, 2008

05 Feb, 2008

I have spent a little time playing a couple alts on Virtue - One being one of my few female characters -- Voltavya -- a female electrical blaster. A couple of these cross over into the ongoing Crosstime Cascade saga --- (I've had some trouble getting the shots I really want with some of my characters.)  I've had some good luck with her -- cover-wise.





The same friend behind Photon Defender also has an alt on Freedom server -- He suggested that we do a Brave & Bold like team up mag.  The ONLY low level alt I had on that server was a Radiation/Radiation Defender. Central Nexus is an old catch all that I've used on a couple times for vastly different characters.   I got a few good shots in, but our team up got cut short when my computer crashed.
 

28 Jan, 2008

Saturday night saw the third annual Golden Age Gala , hosted by the Gods of the Golden Age Supergroup, with The Cape Radio covering the event. DJ PostHaste was in charge and put on a show of Swing and Big Band music. Several costume contests were held, and members of several golden age themed groups were in attendance. For some it was just fun, others were doing some recruiting. All in all, compared to last years, the attendance seemed to greatly outshine the last one. Held in the Galaxy City Arena, Sapphire section, people were milling about for a couple hours.







In the last half hour of the event though, in the ultimate of bad timing, Galaxy City was invaded by the Rikti. Having almost FILLED Galaxy City (at one time I did a whoall check and counted roughly 85 people in Galaxy City -- USUALLY you are lucky to find a dozen. ), the party broke up as the heroes hit the streets to take on the bombs and Rikti.
Afterward the combatants who had fought at the steps of the Arena posed for a final pic.
All in all, a singularly fun event.  (More)

11 Jan, 2008

Mark your calendars -- its that time again... The Gods of the Golden Age are putting on their third annual Golden Age Festival. Virtue Server, On January 26th, in Galaxy City Arena , Sapphire lobby starting at 9 PM EST.  This was a lot of fun last year, and had some of the best period costumes you can find in Paragon City in attendance.   With The Cape providing Fourties music again,  this year can only be BETTER.

14 Dec, 2007

Jeez has it been two weeks already?   December has been a blur.  With the new Issue, I found myself trying lots of stuff, AND wandering around the servers seeing what was going on.  Lots of groups -- New groups, old reactivated groups, existing groups -- all recruiting away.    A lot of costume contests over this period , as they try and attract people to the various groups.

This week saw TWO patches.   The first corrected some small bugs, but added LOTS of new costume options.  Lock and Dagger patterns are very interesting, and the new Enforcer armor and Jester elements are quite fun.  Jesters seem to be quite popular -- as seen at the steps of Atlas here...

I like the Jester Mask, and the frills.

Most seem to go with the new Jester clothing, rather than use the OLD Jester costume elements with it, Though I've seen some variations. And it even inspired a clone as this character on Virtue (Nights Wannabe) blatantly alludes to... I doubt you could get MUCH closer...

Of course the Enforcer armor is attracting its own fans...

I have to admit -- I like the helmet -- and I've seen a few just using the helmet or the guantlets.  One Spartan was using the chest detail piece.

The patch last night was due to a bug that kept OLD tankers (from 2005) from having Taunt.   It was unexpected, and kept me waiting on the new build for quite a while.

29 Nov, 2007

As I said in a previous entry I got to play Doctor Futura -- Running a mission against the Fifth Column

And the Outbreak mission -- Lots of mobs on the STREET here and not in the safe area. All the contacts were among those you had to rescue -- including Coyote.

Rick T. Spie (in the grey suit) is the focus of role playing behind City Hall, as the Sector 07 Agent (far right in the dark outfit) attempts to arrest him. Rick is talking Rikti style --- "Personal Force Field: Active -- Attempted Assination: Impossible". Some are talking in his defense. It was fun to watch.

And as I said before -- the clones. Look at this pic from a costume contest on 11/25. People are copying characters I first saw YEARS ago in the game, and existing comic characters and styles -- in full "public" view. Come on people -- be original or face the wrath of the EULA based Generic-ification. Or worse.

29 Nov, 2007

People continue to surprise me with variation upon variations thru the costume creator engine.  These were recently seen on City of Heroes, across at least 3 servers.

I've seen a few Communist characters popping up -- usually someone starts a group and several follow. Project Containment uses a special helmet I believe was awarded as part of COV pre-order. Its one of the few frill/awards I DON'T have. He uses it to good effect - I've a red Arachnos helm available myself, but never use it on the HERO side. Polly uses the rainbow effect to good use. I didn't get her ACTUAL name -- she flew away to fast.



Ken here uses some bright colors -- Can't escape the feeling I should remember where this comes from. Hot-tee goes for the simple look. (You'd be surprised at the number of teen characters, anime/schoolgirl types, and especially cheerleaders, seen in the game.) Northern Protector uses the pinstripe to GOOD effect here. Canadian characters are probably one of the MOST prominent non-American nationalities seen in the game.



Jimmy the Greek goes Samurai -- bet you never saw THAT coming. Meanwhile this baseball-based character goes cubbie - literally. As you wish, an odd name, goes for the petite and simple look. Note the cherub wings -- Seen some, but they do cost a bit.



Seismic here goes for the earth tones -- fitting his powers. Energy Rocket goes for the armored look -- tough to pull off and NOT look Iron-Man-esque. Eclipsix uses a trick to make a Eclipse/corona logo (Think circular logo black/black chest detail over a Chest Emblem blend -- ). I've seen SEVERAL copies of that trick since seeing him.



Last but not least -- this guy reminds me of a South Park Satan character from a couple years ago.



And this was just a taste. I see something new and surprising every time I log on it seems.

29 Nov, 2007

What can I say -- it was chaos.  The load levels never got really bad, but the volume in Atlas Park was very high.  Everyone was doing dual blade caharacters, or at least willpower characters if not both.  This meant that the streets of Atlas Park were strangely clear, and finding a mob to attack was a problem.   Sewer teams were being set up left and right, though many were advertising for support characters and finding new defenders few and far between. Many a supergroup was taking advantage of this and recruiting new characters as soon as they spawned in Atlas.

I did look at several characters.   A pistol mastermind on virtue was sent to the tailor and got new laser-equipped guns.   Doctor Futura was logged in, and got his Ouroboros power right away.   He was able to activate the portal and head to that zone.   His first mission for them was FUN because what it was was 5th Column!   It was strange seeing those old red coats again!  After that it was a revamped Outbreak mission.  Not too much on the XP for that one, but it did give you a chance to earn the Isolator badge again.  This was followed by a Rikti mission -- that seemed more like a  40-level mission brought down to Doctor's level.    Some of these missions had odd effects.  For instance the Outbreak mission had me down to only 2 powers.  But I had all my vet awarded powers available, AND all my temp powers -- Rune of Warding, Cryobracers, Croatoa sword, Bow and Arrow, etc. I also wore a full cape, which seemed odd since I was effectively level 1 again.  Of course they can't know that I didn't wear a shoulder cape at that level, or how it was designed.  Still its odd to call it a time travel mission with various oddities that do NOT change given the character's history.  Doctor Futura said good bye to the New Gods and was inducted into the Gods group.  Which means I'm actually WITH everyone for a change - but it did mean saying goodbye to 217000 prestige and starting BACK at zero.

I tried several new characters on 2 servers.  Some were deleted, because I didn't like them for one reason or another.  Twice I thought I'd selected and customized a weapon or weapons, only to arrive in Atlas with the defaults.  A bug?  Maybe, but a samurai looks bettwer with Katanas of some kind and NOT scimitars.   Trying to come up with a non-eastern themed dual blade seemed to be a problem for a lot of characters, and many expressed a desire to get high enough that they could execute the combo system all the way through and get the bonus effects. Dual blades were winning out over other types.  My Sovereign Samurai is the Dual Blade / Willpower scrapper on Virtue, but only made level 4.  I also made a version of the Paragon City Slugger, a baseball themed character complete with uniform and bat.  He got into a sewer team and made it to level 6.

I think I saw an awarded respec on one existing character, but not a free tailor token that I thought we were promised.  You definitely don't get that on new charactes.  I did get the new Assemble the Team vet award power, but did not have an opportunity to use it.     One visit to Wentworhs had the new Level 50 purple enhancements showing for sale, or having been sold recently.  Many were sold already for 20-40 million influence -- one of those random drops could be a gold-mine.

I kept an eye out for the Millenium Pallidins, but the officers were not seen. I did run into the Human Flashbulb -- which turned out to be from the old Galacto Ranger group on Champion -- He saw my mention of the blog in my background and immediately recognized me as Diamondo from back there, and started up a conversation on tells.  Two old friends from Dark Blade days also sent tells wanting me to join them on Ouroboros missions, but I was deep in the sewers at the time.

I can only imagine what the next few days will bring as they unfold.  I HOPE to get some pics up here later, and put my thoughts on what is going on over EACH of the next few days.

16 Nov, 2007

The Holidays draw near, and with them Issue 11.  Recently we were given the date for the Debt relief and Prestige bonus for the SGs : December 10th.  Keen eyes on the forums say that it has been previously stated that Issue 11 would be out before this event.  Further the current limit on SG membership is 75, yet the prestige grant is up to 3,000,000, which at 20,000 each means that the membership limit would have to be doubled!  One wonders if they are getting in the count the accounts code versus count the members code on that total as well.  We should soon see.  I suspect that Issue 11 will be sometime next week, most likely the Wednesday preceding the Thanksgiving holiday. If not then, a week later -- I'm still betting on Wednesday for a go live.

I've been going through and still pruning some dead wood.  Even some high level characters have bit the dust on Virtue -- Work Force is no more.  I'm anxious to set up a dual blade/willpower scrapper, and perhaps a willpower tanker.  We shall see.  But in the process I found myself checking out an old character from last year on Freedom, Holiday Elf.  I expected to see a dead supergroup, with aging unplayed toons --- instead I found a fairly thriving group.  And the old friend from last year - Old Saint Nick himself.

Between the new toon types, my current toons, and this one, I'm going to have my hands full this year...

09 Nov, 2007

Playing catchup...

09 Nov, 2007

Yeah I've been holding back on some of these...

 

06 Nov, 2007

Despite the last days of the Halloween event, I found myself being drawn to the now open Beta of Issue 11.  It looks close.  The only problem I've seen really is a lack of consistency on the dual weapons.  You pick fantasy blades, but the first time you leave the initial zone, they change to scimitars.  The bug has been reported many times, and hopefully on the next build, it will be fixed.  Its not effecting all blades, cause I did see a guy with the Khopesh hooked  blades later in the game.  Not sure which are immune.  Color choices are retained, just not the type.

Working Beta means smaller numbers -- and that changes the game some.   Less chances to team, no SGs really to speak of.  My first visit to Skyway saw DOZENS of SUPA-Trolls clustered everywhere.  With no one around, they just kept multiplying to unheard-of levels, providing a new level of hazard to the zone.  Something for any would-be beta-testers to remember.  There are a few active channels out there -- Beta Testers for one.  Do a channel search, and set yourself up QUICK.  It will help.

One thing I should mention is that on live, there was no other reward for 42 month vet status other than the Fervent badge.  But on test there is the Assemble the Team power.  It is a 30 minute recharge power, gathering all your team mates to you in a zone.  I used it as a low level character to bring a split team together in the sewers.  I also used it sidekicked up in Skyway to gather a few members who could not find the hidden sewer entrance to the mission because of the long tunnel approach.  It is another reason I'm EAGER for Issue 11 to go live, since this would be available on ALL my characters.

Naturally I'm trying out the new weapon customizations and Willpower.  Dual Blade /Willpowers seem to be a VERY popular new group.  Willpower if laid out well, does function BOTH as regeneration and resistance, but it does take some slots and some work.  I've only really tried it fully on a Training Room 01 character called White Samurai.  I've got him up to level 12.    He got hit by the bug above, and looks a little odd in full samurai gear, but weilding scimitars rather than the more oriental blades.  But the movements so far are clean.  One of the new features I like is the combo attacks.  If you do an attack AND hit, the next attack in the sequence gets an orange circle.  Do that one and a third attack lights up as well.  Hit with that, and you get an extra WEAKENED bonus to the hits.  It can be VERY gratifying to do 3 attacks, and see a whole cluster of enemies around you all show being weakened by your attack.  The dual blade spinning attack is very well done.

I'm not sure but I think I've seen some slight changes of animation based on the weapons chosen.  It is so hard to tell. 

I tried a willpower/Mace character - a baseball player using a bat, and got good reactions from it.   Willpower for a tanker definitely seems much easier for ME to play.  I've always had some on/off success with tankers.   If this follows suit for other players, we may see a flood of new tankers.   Weapon customization seems to have changed as to choices -- some of the proposed ones have vanished.  Katana seems to have only a few, changing the condition of the blade.  I love the ones done for Broadsword, especially the Tech blade.  Its big flat, with translucent blade segments implying possible vibro or energy blades.  It even has a tuning fork style center with a an arc of energy that goes up the middle, occasionaly pulsing.  It could easily be applied to an anime style character, or a hi-tech armored type.

Speaking of which, I keep noticing several new male hairstyles. Most imply hair in the eyes anime styles.  But some seem to be sculpted by flying, or imply odd bulbous heads.  I know some of these are bound to be popular, and inspire some characters.

 I did have an older character that I played around with.  Doing a mission with a level 25 plus (or was it 35?) gives you a temp power to open an Orrobous portal.  That portal lets you go the flying island and set up a mission.  There are several attenedants there and some look like they might be there for new Task Forces.   But mainly there are the stones.  From them you can see old missions, and take them on.  Once you have them selected and touch the big stone, you'll be back in that zone headed for the mission.  Depowered down to the level of the mission. It seemed odd playing a character with a level 20 cape, but soloing as level 9.  You seem to be back in the original zone in transit despite powers.  I wonder - as that could lead to confusion later on.  If someone level 37 is soloing as level 9, he's probably going to have to complete that before he can be returned to full power.  Or he'd have to be sidekicked back up?  You could see how weird THAT could get.

Granted this system gives you the ability to earn influence and prestige, while covering some of the arcs you may have went around before, whether intentionally or not.  Except for the ardent must-complete-everything type players, or the gotta-get-them-all badge hunter types, I don't see THAT much benefit in it.  Except possibly for bored players sticking to their level 50s.

I expect to be doing a dual blade/willpower scrapper if not a  broadsword willpower scrapper after issue 11 goes live. I've even started blocking names.   That also means I've been cleaning house on several servers.  There is a lot of dead wood out there, and several others to remove.  I got on to Pinnacle's Shieldwall last night and was invited to a group.  Strange because if you looked at him, a level 16 character with the 1st and 2nd year city anniversary badges as well as the first anniversary badge for CoV, its obvious he's not gotten anywhere fast.   But I ended up spending a couple hours with him, getting him to level 17, earning 4K+ prestige for the group as well as 5 beacon badges.  I did have to respec him, because he had put too much emphasis on attack and not enough on defences.  And had used bad attack power.  Finding a Deific Weapon that was sold at Wentworth's for nearly 2 million made that EASY to upgrade him to all level 20 dual origins. I know I put a good 25 badges on him - Including the sentry badge after Kings Row got invaded.

There was a lot going on this weekend and I tried to pop in to several things.  I had some system problems when I popped in as Flagborn.  It was apparent there was an event in Croatoa, but as soon as I got there my system crashed.

I hope I can keep off the Test system and get back to my others -- Lightforce has taken a few days off while all this has been going on.  I know the Sky Corps probably are missing him.  And I still need to put some more time in on Doctor Futura.  I tried a man-bat styled sound/sound defender on Pinacle I believe called Batshriek that was also fun to play - getting him up to level 9.  Another where I managed to help out the SG with some prestige and beacon badges -- I'm always good for that kind of help.

I hope to see issue 11 go live in the next couple weeks.  I really have my doubts as to whether they want to have that going up TOO close to the winter holiday event -- That has become a staple that people would Not want to miss. The question is do they want to wait until late January for Issue 11?  I think not.  The sooner the better.  I really expect to see a blade themed if not weapon themed super group before the end of the year.  

25 Oct, 2007

A quick word while I can.  I've not updated this for several days -- truth be told I've been ill for over a week with an ear infection.  A nasty one that just won't go away.  It has affected my game time -- limiting it in some ways, giving me more in others.   For the most part I've ended up focusing in on Lightforce.   I've enjoyed him and the group immensely of late.

 

Monday the Halloween event went live.  This means we've got darkness over the city for the next few weeks.  Eochai and Jack In Irons are popping up all over the city.  And hitting a door in a zone your level means its trick or treat time with various beasties emerging.  We've 11 badges up for grab this time, counting 3 clothes badges.  In addition to the Halloween salvage which if a full set can be found, can be turned in to activate the extra costume slot, you can earn various costumes which change you into NPCs.  33 of them.  Which means that groups trick or treating are constantly changing form as they become Freakshow Tanks, Council Galaxys, Vahz Eidolons, Skulls, Hellions, Warriors, Legacy Chain, Scrapyarders, Goldbrickers.  I've noticed lots of Hero-only players asking WHAT'S THAT? in reference to a City of Villian group that they never have seen.  Just seeing PPD cops flying, or weilding swords, claws, and other weapons is odd.  Seeing 6ft male characters suddenly become a thin 5ft Carnie female is wild.  Atlas has become a confusing mess as costumes appear in droves and villains that are NEVER seen in that zone SEEM to be there due to the costumes.   If it wasn't for the perpetual night there would be some DECENT screenshots.   I can imagine a bunch of clever Comic Books and videos being generated using these costumes.  They are only good until 13 days after recieved, and the last day for that will be the 4th.  So most of the costumes will be gone by mid  November.  Still its odd -- I mean a character can get a full cape before flight at low level just by scoring the Paragon Protector costume.

One Sky Corps Member even caught the WEIRD event of two giant monsters at once in Perez.  While taking on the Kraken, what happens but a Eochai shows up and joins in on the battle.  

Yeah its dark but its Halloween in Paragon City. This is the third year for this. Two years ago,October saw the release of City of Villains, so there was no Halloween event. They seem to be upping the ante each year thankfully.

Be it Triumph, Virtue, or Justice servers, I should see you on line the next few days -- every moment I've available, trying to get some of the 11 badges for each character, not to mention the costumes.

21 Aug, 2007

I know I've not posted in a few days, but among other things I got even more busy with Flagborn.  I got into several teams.  Some were mission teams, some were not -- but it meant a steady flow of experience that got him 2 levels one night,  and another after that.  Then, in a fight in the Rikti Warzone where we faced over a half dozen Fake Nemesis practically in a single mob, it happened.  I made level 50 with Flagborn late Friday  early last Saturday.

I ended up trying Warshades and Peacebringer characters after that. I tried a Peeacebringer character to start - making an American Indian with wings I called Simon Darkfeather.  I only got him up 5 or 6 levels.  The first Warshade I tried was Darkwatch - who is now part of the ASSA.   I've made a couple on other servers as well.

Peacebringers is all white energy and flight powers at the early levels.  You fly in the human form until around level 5 when you can get your Nova form, which is the little squid thing.  It is always flying, and has access to only 4 bolt powers.   The Warshade gets around by teleportation until he gets nova, then he can fly in that form.  his powers are the dark purple  and black stuff. 

There is some inherent powers AFTER creation which come into played at certain levels.  Warshades get the equivalent of recall friend around level 10, Peacebringers get group fly.  I must say having full movement powers at level one is immediately a pleasure. 

From what I can see you get more powers than a non-epic character, but you have to make some decisicions.  If you try and put slots on everything, you'll be spread too thin.   My warshade is good in nova form, but lousy in human, since he has no area effect powers.   With a force field he's able to take a lot more damage in that form, but it is usually not enough.

There is much yet to learn about the Kheldians, and it will take some time.  I suspect that making a decision as to whether they play human blaster, squid blaster, tanker, or some combination is KEY to getting them set up right.  One thing I'll say, the do seem to be soloable, althought it is needed to keep a wary eye out for Void Seekers and Quantum equipped opponents.   When they are included, the battle can quickly become unbalanced if not dispatched FIRST.   Other than that the story lines are fairly good so far on the early missions, and you go into some rather complex maps before you hit level 10 -- I found myself in an Oranbega temple complex -- something I'd expect for post level 20 on another character.

My time is limited, and it will be a few days before I can post any pics.  I did manage to attend a costume party with Flagborn on Sunday that was a lot of fun.

 The invasion is going on - on schedule as it were.  And a few of these new Kheldians met some trouble along the way.   My warshade stumbled onto the Kraken in Perez, and though it took a while, managed to get a team put togehter.  We had almost a full team by its end, assisted by 3 members on a task force team.  Thanks to the new ASSA coallition with Gods of the Golden Age and its Young Gods and New Gods, getting associates to take him down was far quicker than the last time he was engaged.

Speaking of the coalition, it was odd one night last week as I attended with several others a meeting with Gods members.  Their group is larger, but all their faces are familiar from Doctor Futura play. It did seem more than a tad unsettling to be standing opposite them as part of another group.  Of course After I get over the Kheldian attempts, I'll be getting back to playing the Doctor and Mud-Dauber. I'm not sure if I'll work much on Flagborn -- I would have liked to finish his armor.  Perhaps I can still do that, and work on getting him to generate influence for other characters.  I know the last session generated a good 4 million.

14 Aug, 2007

I'm continuing to focus on Flagborn.  I got in another 35 to 40% of a level in. I managed to get into a couple groups running in the War Zone, which resulted in upping my current on-hand count of Vanguard merits to 125.  Still confused over the legs --There doesn't seem to be an option to get leg armor, just the hips.  If I bought it and don't remember doing so, I can't find it on the costume menu.  I'll figure it out eventually.   At any rate if I can keep up this rate of gain, I might conceivably have Flagborn up to Level 50 by the end of the month.   That would be SO cool to go to Dragon*Con with THAT feather in my hat - especially with the City of Heroes Panel.   I'm thinking about selecting one or two of my covers and making a T-shirt again.  I've done it before, and while the designs don't last indefinately, I know they get noticed.   Just not sure how the covers will look blown up to full print page size .

I saw that they posted an Invasion schedule -- And that 2 of the days listed were the day of the convention.  It will be tricky -- I know I've got a few characters that are close to earning the Invasion accolade.  I'm going to have to be sure and run them to take advantage of it.   I just hope I can have that level 50 achieved on Flagborn so that I might have a Kheldian character started and achieve the accolade for them too.    The invasions are occurring sparingly now, apparently initiated by player actions.   I've always been busy a few zones away when it happens, and haven't been running a character that would want to participate.

One thing I've noticed over the last couple days is the number of players running with the difficulty (reputation) set higher than normal -- rugged all the way up to invicible.  Before now, I usually run into a "set-it-HIGH" group only on occasion.  But now that I'm in the final few levels, its happening more often.  It is making for wild battles.  Flagborn faced the Rikti Lord of War again, but this time he was meaner looking and had LOTS of backup.  I had to use my Amy temp power, getting the Croatoa witch to help us out.  They actually pulled out some of those Rikti Heavies to fight us on that one.  We were successful, but it wasn't pretty.

Also the thing I've noted on the high level content is the over-abundance of Elite bosses and Arch Villains.   The Praetorian thread has one EVERY mission.   But more often than not, you  get them.  And it isn't always obvious.  One mission cleared last night was against a combination of rogue Longbow and Vanguard, that included a particularlly nasty Longbow Lt., which took us a long time to where down.  (88K XP for a single "villain" is huge!).   The only problem with this is that such missions are rarely completable as a solo.  But getting a team to do your missions isn't always easy.   I suppose I could start my own team, but I hate being leader.  People always want more team members, a different balance, then have problems with going AFK for phone calls, leaving with little warning for meals.  Being the leader can be such a drag at times.  I applaud those that manage to do it on a regular basis.  

Prestige wise I've been more than prolific.  Flagborn has only known the All Star Sentinels of America.  He currently only shows